Next-generation energy storage solutions are needed to satisfy the increasing demand for electrically powered devices. Organic electrode-active materials (OAMs) are promising candidates, constituted of widely available elements, accessible in processes with low CO2 footprint and easily recycled. However, existing OAMs suffer from a lack of porosity, which inhibits counter ion diffusion to the electroactive sites or renders redox processes irreversible, severely limiting their performance.
NanOBatt explores a fundamentally new concept for OAMs in order to significantly improve their intrinsic porosity and provide pathways for efficient counter ion diffusion. In NanOBatt I and my team are investigating redox-active conjugated nanohoops and macrocycles with intrinsic porosity as OAMs in next-generation batteries: Redox-active groups can be installed with the desired properties, their extended conjugation and aromaticity stabilize charges, and their rigid 3D shapes and nanometer-sized cavities lead to nanoporous structures, ideally suited to enable fast counter ion diffusion. In spite of these outstanding properties, conjugated nanohoops have not been explored as OAMs, and even macrocycles have received only little attention as such.
The aims of NanOBatt are to develop synthetic strategies and design guidelines for redox-active conjugated nanohoops and macrocycles as OAMs, elucidate the role of conjugation and porosity on charge stabilization and ion diffusion in their charge/discharge processes and investigate their application as OAMs in alternative battery cell configurations, namely Na, Al, Mg and all-organic batteries. NanOBatt uniquely bridges the gap between fundamental research on organic materials and their application in next-generation charge storage devices, and it will initiate a new research field with ground-breaking impact.
