Electrolyte initiated instaneous in-situ chemical polymerization of organic cathodes for ultralong-cycling magnesium ion batteries

Redox-active organic compounds are promising electrode materials for rechargeable batteries owing to their diverse structures, light weight, resource recyclability and low cost, but the solubility and side reactions in electrolytes impede their practical applications. Herein, we report that pyrrole-based redox-active organic monomers can be instantly converted into pi-conjugated polymer derivatives via a convenient and efficient in-situ chemical polymerization method during battery assembly without tedious fabrication procedures, which, in essence, is to use the electrolyte originally containing bis(hexamethyldisilazido)magnesium (Mg(HMDS)2) to induce the instantaneous in-situ polymerization of 2-pyrrolanthraquinone (2-PyAQ). Benefited from the intrinsic high ionic mobility and minimal electrolyte solubility of the redox-active pi-conjugated polymer chains, the asobtained poly(N-anthraquinoyl pyrrole) (PAQPy) cathode material exhibit high specific capacity, good rate performance and ultralong cycling stability over 4,000 cycles (with a capacity decay rate of only 0.00098% per cycle). Electrochemical kinetics analyses revealed a high Mg-ion diffusivity in the order of 10-11 cm2 s-1 and a high total capacity originated from both capacitive and diffusion-controlled contributions. A series of in-situ and ex-situ spectroscopic studies verified an extraordinary dual-ion storage mechanism based on both the insertion/ extraction processes of Mg2+ and MgCl+ cations on anthraquinone side groups and the doping/de-doping processes of HMDS- anions on polypyrrole chains. This work demonstrates an effective and universal stabilization strategy of redox-active organic electrode materials via electrolyte initiated in-situ chemical polymerization to propel the exploration of high-performance secondary batteries.

Automated summary

This article reports that pyrrole-based redox-active organic monomers can be instantly converted into pi-conjugated polymer derivatives via in-situ chemical polymerization without tedious fabrication procedures during battery assembly. The resulting poly(N-anthraquinoyl pyrrole) (PAQPy) cathode material exhibits high specific capacity, good rate performance, and ultralong cycling stability. The work also demonstrates an effective strategy of stabilizing redox-active organic electrode materials via electrolyte initiated in-situ chemical polymerization.