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Materials science

Long-lived electrodes for plastic batteries

Nature volume 549, pages 339–340 (2017)Cite this article

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Organic materials are potential substitutes for the costly transition-metal oxides used in battery electrodes, but their stability is often poor. A polymer design that uses intermolecular interactions solves this problem.

The growing market for electric vehicles and energy-storage systems has triggered a rapid increase in the demand for rechargeable batteries that are reliable, affordable and sustainable. However, there is mounting concern that conventional batteries, such as the lithium-ion batteries currently found in smartphones and many electric vehicles, might not fulfil future demand — both because of the limited availability of the metals needed to make them, and because of unpredictable costs and environmental issues associated with their use. Writing in Energy & Environmental Science, Kolek et al.1 report a battery electrode based on an organic polymer that could help to overcome these challenges and provide long-lasting, affordable energy storage.

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Figure 1: An organic battery-electrode material that has high stability.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and at the Center for Nanoparticle Research, Institute for Basic Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-742, South Korea

    Byungju Lee & Kisuk Kang

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  1. Byungju Lee
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  2. Kisuk Kang
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Correspondence to Kisuk Kang.

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Lee, B., Kang, K. Long-lived electrodes for plastic batteries. Nature 549, 339–340 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/549339a

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