An all-organic rechargeable battery using bipolar polyparaphenylene as a redox-active cathode and anode

A battery is a galvanic cell that is used as a source of electrical power for specific applications. Modern batteries exist in a multitude of forms to accommodate various applications, from tiny button batteries such as those that power wristwatches to the very large batteries used to supply backup energy to municipal power grids. Some batteries are designed for single-use applications and cannot be recharged (primary cells), while others are based on conveniently reversible cell reactions that...

For electrode reversibility to be maintained, all the reactants and products involved in the half-reaction must be present at the electrode. There are several types of reversible electrodes (half-cells).In metal-metal-ion electrodes, a metal balances electrochemically with a solution of its own ions. Examples are Cu2+|Cu and Zn2+|Zn. Metals that react with the solvent, like group 1 and most group 2 metals, which react with water, and zinc, which reacts with aqueous acidic solutions, cannot be...

Spontaneous Chemical Reactions
Spontaneous redox reactions occur abundantly in nature. The chemical reaction occurring in a disposable AA battery powering our remote controls is one such example of a spontaneous redox reaction. Another example is the immersion of coiled copper wire into an aqueous silver nitrate solution. The reaction shows a gradual, visually impressive color change from colorless to bright blue and the formation of a grey precipitate on the copper wire. In this experiment,...

Electrochemical cells are systems that convert chemical energy into electrical energy or use electrical energy to drive chemical reactions. They consist of two electrodes in contact with an electrolyte, where redox reactions enable electron transfer. Most electrochemical cells include two half-cells connected by an external wire for electron flow and a salt bridge for ion flow. The salt bridge contains an electrolyte solution and maintains charge neutrality by allowing ions—not electrons—to...

Oxidation-reduction or redox reactions involve the transfer of electrons from one molecule or atom to another. When an atom gains an electron, another atom must lose an electron, meaning oxidation and reduction must occur together. Since the redox occurs in pairs, the atom that gets oxidized is also called the reducing agent or reductant, and the atom that is reduced is also called the oxidizing agent or oxidant. A straightforward way to remember the definitions of oxidation and reduction is...

Redox reactions are vital biochemical processes that underpin energy metabolism in cells. These reactions involve the transfer of electrons between molecules, occurring in tandem as oxidation and reduction. Oxidation refers to the loss of electrons, while reduction denotes their gain. This coupling ensures the seamless flow of electrons through metabolic pathways. For example, in bacterial metabolism, glucose undergoes oxidation to carbon dioxide, while oxygen is simultaneously reduced to...