An illustration of croconic acid and an image of a high-voltage environmentally friendly organic lithium-ion batteries. (Courtesy of Yuto Katsuyama et al.).
In addition, organic batteries have greater theoretical capacities than conventional lithium-ion batteries because their use of organic materials renders them lightweight. Most reported organic batteries to date, however, possess a relatively low (1-3V) working voltage. This means that increasing organic batteries’ voltage will lead to higher energy density batteries.
Knowing this, the Tohoku University and UCLA groups set up to study croconic acid and found that when used as a lithium-ion battery cathode material, it maintains a strong working voltage of around 4 V.
According to the scientists, croconic acid has five carbon atoms bonded to each other in a pentagonal form, and each of the carbons is bonded to oxygen. It also…
Organic lithium-ion batteries one step closer to becoming reality
