A Small Molecular Symmetric All-Organic Lithium-Ion Battery

The structural designability of organic electrode materials makes them attractive for symmetric all-organic batteries (SAOBs) by virtue of different plateaus. However, quite a few works have reported all-organic batteries and it is still challenging to develop a high-performance organic material for SAOBs. Herein, a small molecule, 2,3,7,8-tetraaminophenazine-1,4,6,9-tetraone (TAPT), is reported for SAOBs. The rich C=O and C=N groups ensure the high capacity at both plateaus for C=O/C-O and C=N/C-N redox reactions, which are hence utilized as cathodic and anodic active centers respectively. Moreover, the presence of C=O, C=N and NH₂ groups resulted in plentiful strong intermolecular interactions, leading to layered structures, insolubility and high stability. The rich functional groups also facilitated the chelation of N and O with Li cations and hence benefited the storage of Li cations. The electrochemical performances of TAPT-based SAOBs outperformed all of the previously reported SAOBs.