Diamino-Substituted Quinones as Cathodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Abstract

This study introduces a sustainable approach to designing organic cathode materials (OCMs) for lithium-ion batteries as a potential replacement for traditional metal-based electrodes. Utilizing green synthetic methodologies, we synthesized and characterized five distinct quinone derivatives and investigated their electrochemical attributes within Li-ion battery architectures. Notably, the observed specific capacities were lower than the theoretical predictions, suggesting limitations in achieving efficient redox reactions in a coin-cell configuration. Among the quinone derivatives studied, one variant derived from natural vanillin showed superior cycle stability, maintaining 58% capacity retention over 95 charge−discharge cycles, and achieving a Coulombic efficiency of 90%. Importantly, we discovered that the commonly used Super-P conductive carbon did not yield any measurable battery performance; instead, these quinones necessitated the incorporation of graphene nanoplatelets as the conductive matrix. Through a facile one-step synthesis in ethanol or water, we have demonstrated a viable synthetic route for producing OCMs, albeit with moderate performances, which have attempted to address common concerns of high solubility and poor redox reactivity of previous OCMs, thereby offering a sustainable pathway for the development of organic-based energy storage devices.

Mini-Review on Organic Electrode Materials: Recent Breakthroughs and Advancement in Metal Ion Batteries

“…By introducing electron-donating amine, solubility was effectively reduced due to an increase in molecular mass. It demonstrated excellent long-term cycling stability, preserving 58% of its capacity after 95 charge–discharge cycles with a Coulombic efficiency of 90% . Gao and co-workers designed an air-stable Cu-mediated 1D coordination polymer copper­(II)-2,5-dihydroxy-1,4-benzoquinone (Cu-DHBQ), as a cathode for Li ion batteries.…”