Quasi-equilibrium voltammetric curves of polaron-conducting polymer films

Thermodynamic model for voltammetric responses in conducting redox polymers

Electroactive polymer materials are known to play important roles in a vast spectrum of modern applications such as in supercapacitors, fuel cells, batteries, medicine, and smart materials, etc. They are usually divided into two main groups: first, conducting π-conjugated organic polymers, which conduct electricity by cation-radicals delocalized over a polymer chain; second, redox polymers, which conduct electricity via an electron-hopping mechanism. Polymer materials belonging to these two main groups have been thoroughly studied and their thermodynamic and kinetic models have been built. However, in recent decades a lot of mixed-type materials have been discovered and investigated. To the best of our knowledge, a thermodynamic-based description of conducting redox polymers (CRPs) has not been provided yet. In this work, we present a thermodynamic model for voltammetric responses of conducting redox polymers. The derived model allows one to extract thermodynamic parameters of a CRP including the polaron delocalization degree and redox active groups interaction constant. The model was verified with voltammetric experiments on three recently synthesized CRPs and showed a satisfactory predictive ability. The simulated data are in good agreement with the experiment. We believe that developing theoretical descriptions for CRPs and other types of electroactive materials with the ability to simulate their electrochemical responses may help in future realization of new systems with superior characteristics for electrochemical energy storage, chemical sensors, pharmacological applications, etc.

Resistivity-Temperature Behavior of Intrinsically Conducting Bis(3-methoxysalicylideniminato)nickel Polymer

Materials with a positive temperature coefficient have many applications, including overcharge and over-temperature protection in lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. The thermoresistive properties of an electrically conductive polymer, based on a Ni(salen)-type backbone, known as polyNiMeOSalen, were evaluated by means of in situ resistivity measurements. It was found that the polymer was conductive at temperatures below 220 °C; however, the polymer increased in resistivity by three orders of magnitude upon reaching 250 °C. Thermogravimetric results combined with elemental analyses revealed that the switch from the insulation stage to the conductive stage resulted from thermally dedoping the polymer. Electrochemical studies demonstrated that a polymer retains its electroactivity when it is heated and can be recovered to a conductive state through oxidation via electrochemical doping in an electrolyte solution.

Redox-conducting polymers based on metal-salen complexes for energy storage applications

Metal-salen polymers are electrochemically active metallopolymers functionalized with multiple redox centers, with a potential for high performance in various fields such as heterogeneous catalysis, chemical sensors, energy conversion, saving, and storage. In light of the growing world demand for the development of superior energy storage systems, the prospects of employing these polymers for advancing the performance of supercapacitors and lithium-ion batteries are particularly interesting. This article provides a general overview of the results of investigating key structure-property relationships of metal-salen polymers and using them to design polymer-modified electrodes with improved energy storage characteristics. The results of independent and collaborative studies conducted by the members of two research groups currently affiliated to the Saint–Petersburg State University and the Ioffe Institute, respectively, along with the related data from other studies are presented in this review.

Overcharge Cycling Effect on the Surface Layers and Crystalline Structure of LiFePO4 Cathodes of Li-Ion Batteries

Electrochemical cells using LiFePO4 cathode material are considered one of the safest and most resistant to overcharging among Li-ion batteries. However, if LiFePO4-based electrodes are exposed to high potentials, surface and structural changes may occur in the electrode material. In this study Li/LiFePO4 half-cells were overcharged under different modes with variable cut-off voltages and charge currents. The change in voltage profile, discharge capacity, surface layers composition, and crystalline structure were characterized after overcharge cycles. It was demonstrated that the cathode material is resistant to short-term overcharging up to 5 V, but undergoes irreversible changes with increasing overcharge time or potential. Thus, despite the well-known tolerance of LiFePO4-based batteries to overcharge, a long overcharge time or high cut-off voltage leads to destructive changes in the cathode and should be avoided.