Bio-Based Poly(hydroxy urethane)s for Efficient Organic High-Power Energy Storage

Abstract

Fast, low-cost, and efficient energy storage technologies are urgently needed to balance the intermittence of sustainable energy sources. High-power capacitors using organic polymers offer a green and scalable answer. They require dielectrics with high permittivity (ε r) and breakdown strength (E B), which bio-based poly(hydroxy urethane)s (PHUs) can provide. PHUs combine high concentrations of hydroxyl and carbamate groups, thus enhancing their ε r, and a highly tunable glass transition (T g), which dictates the regions of low dielectric losses. By reacting erythritol dicarbonate with bio-based diamines, fully bio-based PHUs were synthesized with T g ∼ 50 °C, ε r > 8, E B > 400 MV·m–1, and low losses (tan δ < 0.03). This results in energy storage performance comparable with the flagship petrochemical materials (discharge energy density, U e > 6 J·cm–3) combined with a remarkably high discharge efficiency, with η = 85% at E B and up to 91% at 0.5 E B. These bio-based PHUs thus represent a highly promising route to green and sustainable energy storage.

Highly Flexible Dielectric Films from Solution Processable Covalent Organic Frameworks**

“…Thanks to the relatively polar molecular structures, low BET surface areas as well as the continuous and defect‐free film structures (as evidenced by cross‐sectional SEM images in Figures 4A, 4B and S18), both our “top‐down” COF films display substantially higher dielectric constant than the existing literature results of COF films, as seen in Figure 6A. Specifically, at 1 kHz, the dielectric constant of COF‐PEO‐3 and TFP‐PEO‐3 films are as high as 11.38 and 9.67, respectively, among the highest for dielectrically linear polymers [64,65] and comparable to, or even higher than, ferroelectric polymers such as polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF)‐based homopolymers and copolymers [66,67] . Furthermore, both films exhibit low dielectric loss tangents (<0.05) across the investigated frequency range.…”

Ultralong Cycle Life and High Rate of Zn‖I2 Battery Enabled by MBene‐Hosted I2 Cathode

“…With the massive application of various portable computing/communication devices, electric vehicles and drones, the importance of developing batteries with high charge/discharge rate DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202310294 has been greatly highlighted. [1,2] Meanwhile, the ever-growing demand of clean but intermittent energy (e.g., solar, wind, or tidal power [3,4] ) and the increased maintenance costs of large-scale grid energy storage have urged the breakthrough for rechargeable batteries with high reversibility and long lifespan. [4,5] However, it remains highly challenging to obtain high rate and long cycle life at a high specific current, requiring the electrode materials integrating high electrical conductivity, fast reaction kinetics, robust structure with high discharge capacity simultaneously.…”

“…[1,2] Meanwhile, the ever-growing demand of clean but intermittent energy (e.g., solar, wind, or tidal power [3,4] ) and the increased maintenance costs of large-scale grid energy storage have urged the breakthrough for rechargeable batteries with high reversibility and long lifespan. [4,5] However, it remains highly challenging to obtain high rate and long cycle life at a high specific current, requiring the electrode materials integrating high electrical conductivity, fast reaction kinetics, robust structure with high discharge capacity simultaneously. [6][7][8] Known for their low-cost, environmental friendliness, and safety, a big variety of rechargeable aqueous metal ion batteries have been developed.…”

Chemically Recyclable Biobased Non‐Isocyanate Polyurethane Networks from CO2‐Derived Six‐membered Cyclic Carbonates

“…In recent times, the search for more environmentally sustainable strategy to forming NIPUs has intensified. [20][21][22] Isoeugenol, a very attractive biobased monomer with low price, can be extracted from natural products such as clove oil. [23][24][25][26][27] The propenyl and phenol functionality of isoeugenol can be used to introduce polymerizable groups, such as epoxy derivatives [25,28] and (meth)acrylate, [29] which are expected to serve as substrates in the construction of polymers with high properties.…”