Structuring PEDOT Hollow Nanosphere Electrodes for High Specific Energy Li-Metal|Polymer Thin-Film Batteries

Junaiz Rehmen, Thushan Pathirana, Laura Garcia-Quintana, Robert Kerr, Patrick C. Howlett, Kamil Zuber, Cristina Pozo-Gonzalo, Drew R. Evans

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Vapor deposition of tosylate-doped poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) has been templated to create hollow nanosphere coatings on carbon paper electrodes. The electrochemistry of the PEDOT hollow nanosphere coatings were characterized in nonvolatile and nonflammable Li-based N-methyl-N-propyl pyrrolidinium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide electrolytes. These electrodes exhibit high electrochemical activity for the given deposited mass owing to their heightened electrochemical active area. Furthermore, a multilayer of PEDOT hollow nanospheres as the cathode in a Li coin cell provides stability during repeated charge-discharge cycling against a Li-metal foil anode. With performance equivalent to the theoretical limit for PEDOT (140 mA h g-1), the Li|PEDOT cell has a significant specific energy of ?340 W h/kg. These results give insights into the fabrication and use of nanostructured vapor-deposited conducting polymers for energy storage devices.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3820-3828
Number of pages9
JournalACS Applied Nano Materials
Volume3
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 24 Apr 2020
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • conducting polymer
  • hollow nanosphere
  • Li-metal battery
  • PEDOT
  • vapor deposition

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