Today's batteries are almost exclusively based on inorganic matter and raw materials are recovered from energy demanding mining of limited mineral resources. Refining of these materials into active electrodes requires high temperature extraction and synthesis and results in large CO2 emission penalties. In this project we develop battery materials made entirely from renewable resources, using low temperature organic synthetic chemistry to produce active materials. Inspiration for the active charge storage components have been sought in natures own energy transformation method, photosynthesis, where redox active quinones plays important roles for charge transport between the two photosystems, Photosystem II and Photosystem I. The charge carrying quinones in this project are immobilized on a polymer backbone to prevent leakage of active material. The polymer backbone not only serves to immobilize quinones, but also to introduce conductivity in the material by making use of a conducting polymer. The intriguing charge transfer events occurring in the polymer battery material are investigated using in-situ electrochemical and spectroscopic techniques to unravel the mechanism of charge transport and storage in organic matter based electrical energy storage materials.
For more information, please contact Martin Sjödin or Maria Strömme.