Ion diffusion in redox-active macrocyclic organic electrode materials

Society has witnessed a rapid development of energy storage materials as a result of the increasing demand caused by electrification of transport and commercialization of portable electronics.

Conventional, widely used lithium-ion batteries rely on transition-metal oxides (Co, Ni) used to manufacture positive electrodes; unfortunately, depletion of the Li, Co and Ni sources is inevitable and there is an urgent need for alternatives based on abundant, green and cheap materials.

Organic compounds are composed of earth-abundant elements (C, N, O, S, H), and, in principle, can be accessed from renewable resources using greener methods.

Organic batteries by far outperform inorganics in post-lithium battery technologies, especially in case of multivalent batteries, where they currently offer the most realistic possibility of commercialization.

However, organic battery materials have many drawbacks, one of them being the fact that they are amorphous and lack ion-diffusion pathways.

The goal of the research project is to investigate the fundamental processes of ion diffusion in molecular organic electrode materials with intrinsic porosity. The compounds will be investigated as model systems for next-generation organic electrode materials.

The proposed molecules possess large nanopores in the structures, can stabilize charges through conjugation, and can undergo several redox processes, which makes them perfect candidates as model systems to explore ion diffusion.

This project will benefit from a wealth of experience in organic synthesis and the exploration of redox properties of macrocyclic molecules accumulated by the Fellow, Dr. Wojciech Stawski, and combined with the expertise of Prof.

Birgit Esser in battery research, which will lead to a deep understanding of ion-diffusion processes in those materials and provide design principles for their preparation.