DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: High-Energy, High-Power Sodium-Ion Batteries from a Layered Organic Cathode

Journal Article · · Journal of the American Chemical Society

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) attract significant attention due to their potential as an alternative energy storage solution, yet challenges persist due to the limited energy density of existing cathode materials. In principle, redox-active organic materials can tackle this challenge because of their high theoretical energy densities. However, electrode-level energy densities of organic electrodes are compromised due to their poor electron/ion transport and severe dissolution. Here, we report the use of a low-bandgap, conductive, and highly insoluble layered metal-free cathode material for SIBs. It exhibits a high theoretical capacity of 355 mAh g–1 per formula unit, enabled by a four-electron redox process, and achieves an electrode-level energy density of 606 Wh kg–1electrode (90 wt % active material) along with excellent cycling stability. It allows for facile two-dimensional Na+ diffusion, which enables a high intrinsic rate capability. Growth of the active cathode material in the presence of as little as 2 wt % carboxyl-functionalized carbon nanotubes improves charge transport and charge transfer kinetics and further enhances the power performance. Altogether, these allow the construction of SIB cells built from an affordable, sustainable organic small molecule, which provide a cathode energy density of 472 Wh kg–1electrode when charging/discharging in 90 s and a top specific power of 31.6 kW kg–1electrode.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704
OSTI ID:
2555706
Report Number(s):
BNL--227946-2025-JAAM
Journal Information:
Journal of the American Chemical Society, Journal Name: Journal of the American Chemical Society Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 147; ISSN 0002-7863
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (49)

Recent Progress in Advanced Organic Electrode Materials for Sodium‐Ion Batteries: Synthesis, Mechanisms, Challenges and Perspectives journal January 2020
Organic Cathode Materials for Sodium‐Ion Batteries: From Fundamental Research to Potential Commercial Application journal October 2021
Prussian Blue Analogues for Sodium‐Ion Batteries: Past, Present, and Future journal February 2022
Contemporary Approaches for Amide Bond Formation journal November 2023
Poly(benzoquinonyl sulfide) as a High-Energy Organic Cathode for Rechargeable Li and Na Batteries journal June 2015
Electrolyte Solvation Structure Design for Sodium Ion Batteries journal June 2022
An Organic Pigment as a High-Performance Cathode for Sodium-Ion Batteries journal June 2014
In Situ Polymerized Conjugated Poly(pyrene‐4,5,9,10‐tetraone)/Carbon Nanotubes Composites for High‐Performance Cathode of Sodium Batteries journal December 2020
Nitroaromatics as High‐Energy Organic Cathode Materials for Rechargeable Alkali‐Ion (Li + , Na + , and K + ) Batteries journal December 2020
All Organic Sodium-Ion Batteries with Na 4 C 8 H 2 O 6 journal February 2014
A Small Molecular Symmetric All‐Organic Lithium‐Ion Battery journal July 2022
Microscopic and Spectroscopic Analysis of the Solid Electrolyte Interphase at Hard Carbon Composite Anodes in 1 M NaPF6/Diglyme journal February 2024
Distinction of impedance responses of Li-ion batteries for individual electrodes using symmetric cells journal June 2014
Na-ion versus Li-ion Batteries: Complementarity Rather than Competitiveness journal August 2020
High-rate, high-capacity electrochemical energy storage in hydrogen-bonded fused aromatics journal May 2023
Boost sodium-ion batteries to commercialization: Strategies to enhance initial Coulombic efficiency of hard carbon anode journal April 2021
Optical band gaps of organic semiconductor materials journal August 2016
Layered Oxide Cathodes for Sodium-Ion Batteries: Storage Mechanism, Electrochemistry, and Techno-economics journal January 2023
Control of π–π Stacking via Crystal Engineering in Organic Conjugated Small Molecule Crystals journal December 2017
Pillar[5]quinone–Carbon Nanocomposites as High-Capacity Cathodes for Sodium-Ion Batteries journal September 2019
Opportunities and Challenges for Organic Electrodes in Electrochemical Energy Storage journal March 2020
Diglyme Based Electrolytes for Sodium-Ion Batteries journal May 2018
P2-Type Layered Na0.75Ni1/3Ru1/6Mn1/2O2 Cathode Material with Excellent Rate Performance for Sodium-Ion Batteries journal August 2020
Polyanionic Cathode Materials for Practical Na-Ion Batteries toward High Energy Density and Long Cycle Life journal September 2023
Promising Cathode Materials for Sodium-Ion Batteries from Lab to Application journal November 2023
A Layered Organic Cathode for High-Energy, Fast-Charging, and Long-Lasting Li-Ion Batteries journal January 2024
A High-Voltage Organic Framework for High-Performance Na- and K-Ion Batteries journal January 2022
Uniform Carbon Coated Na3V2(PO4)2O2xF3–2x Nanoparticles for Sodium Ion Batteries as Cathode journal October 2019
Impedance Spectroscopy Characterization of Porous Electrodes under Different Electrode Thickness Using a Symmetric Cell for High-Performance Lithium-Ion Batteries journal February 2015
High-rate electrochemical energy storage through Li+ intercalation pseudocapacitance journal April 2013
Raising the redox potential in carboxyphenolate-based positive organic materials via cation substitution journal October 2018
Nitrogen-rich covalent organic frameworks with multiple carbonyls for high-performance sodium batteries journal January 2020
High-performance sodium–organic battery by realizing four-sodium storage in disodium rhodizonate journal October 2017
Opportunities for moderate-range electric vehicles using sustainable sodium-ion batteries journal March 2023
Prospects of organic electrode materials for practical lithium batteries journal February 2020
Organic batteries for a greener rechargeable world journal September 2022
A H-bond stabilized quinone electrode material for Li–organic batteries: the strength of weak bonds journal January 2019
A review of phosphorus and phosphides as anode materials for advanced sodium-ion batteries journal January 2020
Performance optimization and fast rate capabilities of novel polymer cathode materials through balanced electronic and ionic transport journal January 2021
Ether-based electrolytes for sodium ion batteries journal January 2022
A nitrogen- and carbonyl-rich conjugated small-molecule organic cathode for high-performance sodium-ion batteries journal January 2022
The crystal structure of the 1:1 radical cation–radical anion salt of 2,2'-bis-l,3-dithiole (TTF) and 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) journal March 1974
Cation Intercalation and High Volumetric Capacitance of Two-Dimensional Titanium Carbide journal September 2013
Three-dimensional holey-graphene/niobia composite architectures for ultrahigh-rate energy storage journal May 2017
Electrical Conductivity and Electrochemical Characteristics of Na3V2(PO4)3-Based NASICON-Type Materials journal July 2018
Optimizing Areal Capacities through Understanding the Limitations of Lithium-Ion Electrodes journal November 2015
Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopic Investigation of Sodium Ion Diffusion in MnO2Using a Constant Phase Element Active in Desired Frequency Ranges journal January 2014
An industrial pathway to emerging presodiation strategies for increasing the reversible ions in sodium-ion batteries and capacitors journal January 2022
Applications of Voltammetry in Lithium Ion Battery Research journal February 2020