Plastic power, or energy storage platforms primarily consisting of polymers, offers opportunities never before available in current state-of-the-art prismatic or coin cells, such as flexible, structural, or stretchable batteries and capacitors. Organic radical polymers are especilly interesting as cathode or anode materials because of their rapid redox kinetics. However, the mechanisms by which organic radical polymers transfer mass and charge are not immediately clear. This talk will introduce the current knowledge of ion and electron transport in organic radical polymers and how that impacts the redox chemistry. Organic radical polymers exchange electrons and ions by a process very different from conjugated polymers such as polyaniline. The origin of this process is evaluated, as well as how it may be manipulated by adjusting the polymer backbone chemistry. Conjugated backbones and aliphatic backbones with pendant radical groups are compared, where it is shown that the conjugated backbone participates in internal electron transfer with the radical group. This is accomplished using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D), in-situ spectroelectrochemistry, and standard electrochemical techniques. Looking into the future, polymers may be the enabling factor towards unconventional batteries, possibly merging plastic electronics with plastic power to form a new paradigm.

Mass and charge transport in organic radical polymers (Rising Star award address)

255th National Meeting (2018)

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