Premium
Powering up the Future: Radical Polymers for Battery Applications
Author(s) -
Janoschka Tobias,
Hager Martin D.,
Schubert Ulrich S.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.201203119
Subject(s) - materials science , context (archaeology) , battery (electricity) , organic radical battery , renewable energy , nanotechnology , lithium (medication) , energy storage , electrical engineering , power (physics) , engineering , medicine , paleontology , physics , quantum mechanics , endocrinology , biology
Our society's dependency on portable electric energy, i.e., rechargeable batteries, which permit power consumption at any place and in any time, will eventually culminate in resource wars on limited commodities like lithium, cobalt, and rare earth metals. The substitution of conventional metals as means of electric charge storage by organic and polymeric materials, which may ultimately be derived from renewable resources, appears to be the only feasible way out. In this context, the novel class of organic radical batteries (ORBs) excelling in rate capability (i.e., charging speed) and cycling stability (>1000 cycles) sets new standards in battery research. This review examines stable nitroxide radical bearing polymers, their processing to battery systems, and their promising performance.