Authors
Qin, Kaiqiang; Tan, Sha; Mohammadiroudbari, Motahareh ; Yang, Zhenzhen; Yang, Xiao-Qing; Hu, Enyuan; Luo, Chao
Abstract
Rechargeable aluminum organic batteries (RAOBs) are promising for developing cost-effective and sustainable energy storage devices due to the low cost, abundance, and high sustainability of aluminum and organic resources. Here, we designed and synthesized a redox-active polymer bearing carbonyl and azo groups as a cathode material for RAOBs. The polymeric cathode exhibits a high reversible specific capacity, superior cyclic stability, fast charging capability, and a wide operation temperature range (40C to 100C). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), pair distribution function (PDF) analysis, and soft X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) were employed to gain fundamental insight into the carbonyl and azo chemistries in RAOBs, as well as the cathode electrolyte interphase (CEI) structure. We demonstrated a step-by-step alumination/de-alumination reaction for carbonyl and azo groups in the polymer cathode and unraveled a Al2O3- and AlN-rich CEI, which is critical for the impressive performance of RAOBs.