Three-Dimensional Arylene Diimide Frameworks for Highly Stable Lithium Ion Batteries

Lithium ion batteries are the best commercial technology to satisfy the energy storage needs of current and emerging applications. However, the use of transition-metal-based cathodes precludes them from being low-cost, sustainable, and environmentally benign, even with recycling programs in place. In this study, we report a highly stable organic material that can be used in place of the transition-metal cathodes. By creating a three-dimensional framework based on triptycene and perylene diimide (PDI), a cathode can be constructed that mitigates stability issues that organic electrodes typically suffer from. When a lithium ion battery is assembled using the PDI-triptycene framework (PDI-Tc) cathode, a capacity of 75.9 mAh g^-1 (78.7% of the theoretical value) is obtained. Importantly, the battery retains a near perfect Coulombic efficiency and >80% of its capacity after cycling 500 times, which is the best value reported to date for PDI-based materials.