Triphenylamine-Based Conjugated Microporous Polymers as the Next Generation Organic Cathode Materials

This paper presents a study on a novel porous polymer based on triphenylamine (LPCMP) as an excellent cathode material for lithium-ion batteries. Through structural design and a scalable post-synthesis approach, improvements in intrinsic conductivity, practical capacity, and redox potential in an organic cathode material is reported. The designed cathode achieves a notable capacity of 146 mAh g⁻¹ with an average potential of 3.6 V, using 70% active material content in the electrode. Additionally, through appropriate structural design, the capacity can increase to 160 mAh g^-1. Even at a high current density of 20 A g⁻¹ (360C), the cathode maintains a capacity of 74 mAh g⁻¹, enabling full charge within 10 s. A high specific energy density of 569 Wh kg⁻¹ (at 0.1 A g⁻¹) is combined with a very high power density of 94.5 kW kg⁻¹ (at 20 A g⁻¹ corresponding to a specific energy density of 263 Wh kg⁻¹) surpassing the power density of graphene-based supercapacitors. It exhibits highly stable cyclic performance across various current densities, retaining almost 95% of its initial capacity after 1000 cycles at 5.5C. This work presents a significant breakthrough in developing high-capacity, high-potential organic materials for sustainable, high-energy, and high-power lithium-ion batteries.