Synthesis of all organic batteries

Overview

The rapid technological advancement of modern society has led to an increasing need for higher density energy availability. Currently, the total energy consumption of the world is about 1.11 × 108 GWh per year and until now, fossil fuels have still by far the highest share in the global mix, with >80%. However, fossil fuels are not available in unlimited quantities (e.g., “peak oil”), and their utilisation leads inherently to a production of more than 30 gigatons of carbon dioxide every year. Solar energy is one of the most promising, effective and emission‐free energy sources. However, the energy has to be stored to compensate the fluctuating availability of the sun and the actual energy demand and also to allow for the mobile nature in which energy is utilised in society. Additionally, with the advent of hybrid electrical cars, smart phones, tablets and drones, a pressing need for reliable, scalable, portable and flexible high-performance energy solutions has been created.
Currently, for the on-demand battery power of our energy intensive society, lithium-ion batteries are the most commonly used power sources due to their high-energy density and long-life. Application of these batteries has also recently been expanded to alternate energy sources for vehicles and domestic applications. In these batteries, a lithium transition-metal oxide cathode and a graphite anode are used as energy storage electrodes. Since the lithium transition-metal oxide cathode comprises the bulk of a lithium ion battery, it primarily determines the battery’s energy density and capacity. The lithium transition-metal oxide is charged/discharged electrochemically by deintercalation/intercalation of the lithium ions and oxidation/reduction of the transition-metal ions. While extremely effective as an energy storage device, lithium-ion batteries do have a number of negative factors associated with them including the availability and cost associated with the raw materials, problems with the recyclability of spent devices and safety concerns surrounding the exothermic (and potentially explosive) decomposition of faulty batteries. Thereby, there is currently a market demand for new energy storage technologies that are lightweight, recharge quickly, environmentally benign, cheap, and readily manufactured from renewable resources. A notable family of such materials is organic battery electrode materials, which comprise electrochemically redox-active organic compounds including molecules, polymers, and organometallics where the organic components contribute to redox activity. Initially the focus for organic batteries around their flexible designs for personal electronic devices, due to the plastic’s bendable nature opposed to brittleness of inorganic materials, but recently the rise of redox-flow batteries makes the application of organic materials even for grid-scale energy storage a real possibility.

Research engagement

lab-based synthesis

Start date

1 January, 2024

End date

1 January, 2034

Location

Gadens point - M6

Keywords

• battery
• organic
• chemistry
• synthesis

Contact

James Blinco - j.blinco@qut.edu.au