An air-stable lithiated cathode material based on a 1,4-benzenedisulfonate backbone for organic Li-ion batteries

Abstract

To meet current market demands as well as emerging environmental concerns there is a need to develop less polluting battery technologies. Organic electrode materials could offer the possibility of preparing electrode materials from naturally more abundant elements and eco-friendly processes coupled with simplified recycling management. However, the potential use of organic electrode materials for energy storage is still challenging and a lot of developments remain to be achieved. For instance, promoting high-energy Li-ion organic batteries inevitably requires the development of lithiated organic electrode materials which are able to be charged (delithiated) at a high enough potential (>3 V vs. Li⁺/Li⁰) – a challenging point rarely discussed in the literature. Here, we evaluate tetralithium 2,5-dihydroxy-1,4-benzenedisulfonate as an air-stable lithiated cathode material for the first time and its reversible Li⁺ electrochemical extraction. Quite interestingly, in comparison with the dicarboxylate counterpart, it was observed that the theoretical two-electron reaction is readily reached with this organic structure and at an average operating potential of 650 mV higher.