Electrochemical energy storage systems (batteries) have a tremendous role in technical applications In this review the authors examine the prospects of electroactive polymers in view of the properties required for such batteries Conducting organic polymers are considered here in the light of their rugged chemical environment: organic solvents, acids, and alkalis The goal of the present article is to provide, first of all in tabular form, a survey of electroactive polymers in view of potential applications in rechargeable batteries It reviews the preparative methods and the electrochemical performance of polymers as rechargeable battery electrodes The theoretical values of specific charge of the polymers are comparable to those of metal oxide electrodes, but are not as high as those of most of the metal electrodes normally used in batteries Therefore, it is an advantage in conventional battery designs to use the conducting polymer as a positive electrode material in combination with a negative electrode such as Li, Na, Mg, Zn, MeH{sub x}, etc 504 refs

Electrochemically Active Polymers for Rechargeable Batteries.

Methods in Lignin Chemistry

Porous carbons have several advantageous properties with respect to their use in energy applications that require constrained space such as in electrode materials for supercapacitors and as solid state hydrogen stores. The attractive properties of porous carbons include, ready abundance, chemical and thermal stability, ease of processability and low framework density. Activated carbons, which are perhaps the most explored class of porous carbons, have been traditionally employed as catalyst supports or adsorbents, but lately they are increasingly being used or find potential applications in the fabrication of supercapacitors and as hydrogen storage materials. This manuscript presents the state-of-the-art with respect to the preparation of activated carbons, with emphasis on the more interesting recent developments that allow better control or maximization of porosity, the use of cheap and readily available precursors and tailoring of morphology. This review will show that the renewed interest in the synthesis of activated carbons is matched by intensive investigations into their use in supercapacitors, where they remain the electrode materials of choice. We will also show that activated carbons have been extensively studied as hydrogen storage materials and remain a strong candidate in the search for porous materials that may enable the so-called Hydrogen Economy, wherein hydrogen is used as an energy carrier. The use of activated carbons as energy materials has in the recent past and is currently experiencing rapid growth, and this review aims to present the more significant advances.

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Energy storage applications of activated carbons: supercapacitors and hydrogen storage

Organic compounds offer new possibilities for high energy/power density, cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and functional rechargeable lithium batteries. For a long time, they have not constituted an important class of electrode materials, partly because of the large success and rapid development of inorganic intercalation compounds. In recent years, however, exciting progress has been made, bringing organic electrodes to the attention of the energy storage community. Herein thirty years' research efforts in the field of organic compounds for rechargeable lithium batteries are summarized. The working principles, development history, and design strategies of these materials, including organosulfur compounds, organic free radical compounds, organic carbonyl compounds, conducting polymers, non-conjugated redox polymers, and layered organic compounds are presented. The cell performances of these materials are compared, providing a comprehensive overview of the area, and straightforwardly revealing the advantages/disadvantages of each class of materials.

Organic Electrode Materials for Rechargeable Lithium Batteries

Ionic liquid crystals.

Excimer Formation by Poly(N-vinylcarbazole) in Solution

Mechanism of Charge-Transfer Polymerization. VI. Alternating Radical Copolymerization of N-Vinylcarbazole with Electron-Accepting Monomers

Field‐induced CT fluorescence quenching has been observed in a poly‐N‐vinylcarbazole (PVCz) film doped with 1,2,4,5‐tetracyanobenzene, which exhibits a large sensitized photocurrent in the corresponding CT absorption region The CT fluorescence quenching is attributed to carrier photogeneration by the ’’field‐assisted thermal dissociation’’ of an ion pair which has a higher excited CT state as precursor The Onsager model for the dissociation of an ion pair satisfactorily explains the experimental data of the field and temperature dependences of the fluorescence quenching by an electric field Combining previously proposed mechanism of extrinsic carrier photogeneration in the exciplex systems, a more general mechanism has been presented for extrinsic carrier photogeneration in solid‐state, excited donor–acceptor systems

Extrinsic carrier photogeneration in poly-N-vinylcarbazole. III. CT fluorescence quenching by an electric field

Based upon the previously reported experimental results that the exciplex fluorescence of poly (N-vinylcarbazole) films doped with dimethyl terephthalate is partly quenched by an electric field, a model is proposed for the extrinsic carrier photogeneration mechanism. Interaction between a migrating singlet exciton and an electron acceptor (“encounter complex”) produces an electron-hole ion pair having a rather large separation through a charge-transfer process between the components and a thermalization process of the excess energy. This ion pair dissociates into free carriers with Onsager’s probability of escaping the geminate recombination which gives a “relaxed fluorescent exciplex state”. The field dependence of the initial separation of the ion pair is also discussed.

Extrinsic Carrier Photogeneration in Poly(N-vinylcarbazole) Films Doped with Dimethyl Terephthalate

We have succeeded in obtaining o-benzoquinone monoimine (o-BQMI) and o-benzoquinone diimine (o-BQDI) by oxidizing o-aminophenol (o-AP) and o-phenylenediamine (o-PD), respectively, with freshly prepared lead dioxide at −10 °C in several organic solvents, and also with potassium hexacyanoferrate (III) in an aqueous buffer solution. The formations and reactions of o-BQMI and o-BQDI in aqueous buffer solution were investigated by a stopped flow technique together with a conventional electronic absorption measurements. Both o-BQMI and o-BQDI were formed in the pH range 8–12, and the hydrolysis of o-BQMI to produce o-benzoquinone was found in the pH range 6–8. Both o-BQMI and o-BQDI were found to be unstable at a room temperature to produce 2-aminophenoxazin-3-one (APZ) and 2,3-diaminophenazine (DAP), respectively, as the main products. The formation reactions of APZ and DAP were investigated by observing the spectroscopic course of the reactions in o-BQMI- o-AP and o-BQDI- o-PD system in diethyl ether.

Hiroshi Mikawa

Papers

Excimer Formation by Poly(N-vinylcarbazole) in Solution

Mechanism of Charge-Transfer Polymerization. VI. Alternating Radical Copolymerization of N-Vinylcarbazole with Electron-Accepting Monomers

Extrinsic carrier photogeneration in poly-N-vinylcarbazole. III. CT fluorescence quenching by an electric field

Extrinsic Carrier Photogeneration in Poly(N-vinylcarbazole) Films Doped with Dimethyl Terephthalate

Formations and Reactions of o-Benzoquinone Mono- and Di-imines. I.