Advances in hybrid electric transportation and renewable energy generation require new materials and systems capable of storing and delivering energy at high rates. Inherently conducting polymers (ICPs) have attracted interest for high power and high energy electrodes; however, elaborate organic synthesis requirements has limited the range and composition of materials investigated. In this work, we show that a simple building block approach can be applied to ICP electrode design and synthesis. Efficient, reversible redox couples are incorporated into conventional ICPs to increase the energy and power density of redox electrodes. Copolymers are electrochemically synthesized using thiophene monomers and triarylamine-derivatives to vary the conjugation length of polythiophene between redox-centers. Molecular variations within each monomer are used to tailor the molecular structure and enhance charge storage capacity. Compared to the homopolymer, a factor of 2 increase in charge capacity is achieved for copolymers prepared with only 10 mole % triarylamine groups.

Electrochemical synthesis of high-charge capacity triarylamine-thiophene copolymer redox electrodes

245th National Meeting (2013)

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