Advanced Polymers for High-Performance Batteries

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 July 2024 | Viewed by 3494

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
College of Safety Science and Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China
Interests: lithium-ion battery safety; high-voltage high-safety electrolyte; thermal runaway; cathode materials; phase change materials
School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
Interests: fire safety engineering; composite and hybrid materials; functional materials; polymers and plastics; nanofabrication; growth and self assembly; inorganic materials (incl. nanomaterials)
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Guest Editor
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Research Institute for Advanced Materials, College of Engineering, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea
Interests: Li metal anode free batteries; High functional artificial SEI layer; suppress dendritic growth

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As the energy structure of the world transitions from fossil fuels to renewable energy, new energy and its devices (e.g., lithium-ion cells, hydrogen energy, and supercapacitors) are playing a significant role in human production and living. Polymers are being widely used in new batteries, acting as the critical components of separator, electrolyte, aluminum-plastic film, proton conductor, etc. Therefore, the performance of polymers has an extremely significant impact on the performance of new batteries. Polymer research is crucial to the development of high-performance batteries. To achieve more competitive performances, new polymer materials with more advanced features are continuously being researched and proposed. It is hoped that the new proposed polymers could achieve ‘high-performance batteries’ with both competitive electrochemical and safety performances, meet the market requirements, and better serve the community.

Dr. Dongxu Ouyang
Dr. Wei Wang
Dr. Orapa Tamwattana
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • polymers
  • high-performance batteries
  • separator
  • electrolyte
  • aluminum-plastic film
  • binder
  • fuel battery
  • safety

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 30366 KiB  
Article
Nanocrystalline Cellulose-Supported Iron Oxide Composite Materials for High-Performance Lithium-Ion Batteries
by Quang Nhat Tran, Chan Ho Park and Thi Hoa Le
Polymers 2024, 16(5), 691; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym16050691 - 02 Mar 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 875
Abstract
Nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) can be converted into carbon materials for the fabrication of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) as well as serve as a substrate for the incorporation of transition metal oxides (TMOs) to restrain the volume expansion, one of the most significant challenges of [...] Read more.
Nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) can be converted into carbon materials for the fabrication of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) as well as serve as a substrate for the incorporation of transition metal oxides (TMOs) to restrain the volume expansion, one of the most significant challenges of TMO-based LIBs. To improve the electrochemical performance and enhance the longer cycling stability of LIBs, a nanocrystalline cellulose-supported iron oxide (Fe2O3) composite (denoted as NCC–Fe2O3) is synthesized and utilized as electrodes in LIBs. The obtained NCC–Fe2O3 electrode exhibited stable cycling performance, better capacity, and high-rate capacity, and delivered a specific discharge capacity of 576.70 mAh g−1 at 100 mA g−1 after 1000 cycles. Moreover, the NCC–Fe2O3 electrode was restored and showed an upward trend of capacity after working at high current densities, indicating the fabricated composite is a promising approach to designing next-generation high-energy density lithium-ion batteries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Polymers for High-Performance Batteries)
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16 pages, 5686 KiB  
Article
Application of Polyethylene Glycol-Based Flame-Retardant Phase Change Materials in the Thermal Management of Lithium-Ion Batteries
by Yan Gong, Jiaxin Zhang, Yin Chen, Dongxu Ouyang and Mingyi Chen
Polymers 2023, 15(22), 4450; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym15224450 - 17 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1168
Abstract
Composite phase change materials commonly exhibit drawbacks, such as low thermal conductivity, flammability, and potential leakage. This study focuses on the development of a novel flame-retardant phase change material (RPCM). The material’s characteristics and its application in the thermal management of lithium-ion batteries [...] Read more.
Composite phase change materials commonly exhibit drawbacks, such as low thermal conductivity, flammability, and potential leakage. This study focuses on the development of a novel flame-retardant phase change material (RPCM). The material’s characteristics and its application in the thermal management of lithium-ion batteries are investigated. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) serves as the medium for phase change; expanded graphite (EG) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) are incorporated. Moreover, an intumescent flame retardant (IFR) system based on ammonium polyphosphate (APP) is constructed, aided by the inclusion of bio-based flame-retardant chitosan (CS) and barium phytate (PA-Ba), which can improve the flame retardancy of the material. Experimental results demonstrate that the RPCM, containing 15% IFR content, exhibits outstanding flame retardancy, achieving a V-0 flame retardant rating in vertical combustion tests. Moreover, the material exhibits excellent thermomechanical properties and thermal stability. Notably, the material’s thermal conductivity is 558% higher than that of pure PEG. After 2C and 3C high-rate discharge cycles, the highest temperature reached by the battery module cooled with RPCM is 18.71 °C lower than that of natural air-cooling; the material significantly reduces the temperature difference within the module by 62.7%, which achieves efficient and safe thermal management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Polymers for High-Performance Batteries)
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12 pages, 4279 KiB  
Article
Recycling Compatible Organic Electrode Materials Containing Amide Bonds for Use in Rechargeable Batteries
by Masaru Yao, Hikaru Sano and Hisanori Ando
Polymers 2023, 15(22), 4395; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym15224395 - 13 Nov 2023
Viewed by 712
Abstract
Organic rechargeable batteries that do not use any scarce heavy metals are candidates for the next generation of rechargeable batteries; although, it is not easy to realize both high capacity and long cycle life. Organic compounds linked by amide bonds are expected to [...] Read more.
Organic rechargeable batteries that do not use any scarce heavy metals are candidates for the next generation of rechargeable batteries; although, it is not easy to realize both high capacity and long cycle life. Organic compounds linked by amide bonds are expected to have superior recycling properties after battery degradation, since they will become a single monomer upon hydrolysis. In this study, anthraquinone was chosen as a model redox active unit, and dimeric and trimeric compounds were synthesized, their cycle performances as electrode materials for use in rechargeable batteries were compared, and a trend in which oligomerization improves cycle properties was confirmed. Furthermore, quantum chemistry calculations suggest that oligomerization decreases solubility, which would support a longer life for oligomerized compounds. This methodology will lead to the development of organic rechargeable batteries with further environmental benefits. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Polymers for High-Performance Batteries)
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: An electronic structure investigation of PEDOT with AlCl4- anions, a promising redox combination for energy storage applications
Authors: Ben Craig; Peter Townsend; Carlos Ponce de Leon; Chris Skylaris; Denis Kramer
Affiliation: Helmut-Schmidt-University
Abstract: The conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) is one of the most researched materials. The 1980s bipolaron model remains the dominant interpretation of the electronic structure of PEDOT. Recent theoretical studies have provided updated definitions of key concepts such as bipolarons or polaron pairs, but these have not yet become widely known. In this work, we use density functional theory to investigate the electronic structure of PEDOT oligomers with co-located AlCl4- anions, a promising combination for energy storage. By considering the influence of oligomer length, oxidation or anion concentration and spin state, we find no evidence for self-localisation of positive charges in PEDOT as predicted by the bipolaron model at the hybrid functional level. Our results show distortions that exhibit either a single or a double peak in bond length alternations and charge density. Either can occur at different oxidation or anion concentrations. We note that other distortion shapes are also possible. Rather than representing bipolarons or polaron pairs in the original model, these are electron distributions driven by a range of factors. Localisation of distortions occurs with anions, and distortions can span an arbitrary number of nearby anions. Conductivity in conducting polymers has been observed to reduce at anion concentrations above 0.5. We show at high anion concentrations, the energy of the localised, non-bonding anionic orbitals approaches that of the system HOMO due to Coulombic repulsion between anions. We hypothesize that with nucleic motion in the macropolymer, these orbitals will interfere with the hopping of charge carriers between sites of similar energy, lowering conductivity.

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