Rare-metal-free and high-performance
secondary batteries are necessary
for improving the efficiency of renewable energy systems. Organic
compounds are attractive candidates for the active material of such
batteries. Many studies have reported organic active materials that
show high energy density per active material weight. However, organic
active materials, most of which exhibit low conductivity and low specific
density, typically require a large amount of a conductive additive
(>50 wt %) to obtain a high utilization rate. Therefore, organic
active
materials rarely display high energy density per electrode weight.
High energy densities per electrode weight can be obtained using high
weight fractions of active materials and low weight fractions of conductive
additives. Herein, we report that a low-conductivity organic active
material, indigo, showed improved net discharge capacity density when
even a small amount of a conductive polymer composite, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/polystyrene
sulfonic acid (PEDOT/PSS) with
d
-sorbitol, was used as both
a binder and conductive additive. The cycle life was also improved
by coating one side of the separator with the composite, which probably
hindered the dissolution of the active material. A discharge capacity
of 96% of the theoretical capacity of indigo and an improved cycle
life were achieved with an electrode containing 80 wt % indigo and
with a PEDOT/PSS-coated separator. The optimal fraction of the conductive
binder was examined, and the mechanism of conductivity enhancement
was discussed. The present scheme allows us to replace the dispersion
solvent of the slurry,
N
-methylpyrrolidone, with
water, which can reduce the environmental load during battery manufacturing
processes.