A layer of poly(2-vinylanthraquinone) on current collectors underwent reversible electrode reaction at -0.82 V vs Ag/AgCl in an aqueous electrolyte. A repeatable charging/discharging cycles with a redox capacity comparable to the formula weight-based theoretical density at the negative potential suggested that all of the anthraquinone pendants in the layer was redox-active, that electroneutralization by an electrolyte cation was accomplished throughout the polymer layer, and that the layer stayed on the current collector without exfoliation or dissolution into the electrolyte during the electrolysis. The charging/discharging behavior of the polymer layer in the aqueous electrolyte revealed the capability of undergoing electrochemistry even in the nonsolvent of the pendant group, which offered insight into the nature of the anthraquinone pendants populated on the aliphatic chain. Charging/discharging capability of air batteries was accomplished by using the polymer layer as an organic anode-active material. A test cell fabricated using the conventional MnO(2)/C cathode catalyst exhibited a discharging voltage at 0.63 V corresponding to their potential gap and a charging/discharging cycle of more than 500 cycles without loss of the capacity.

No abstract

No abstract

Condensation of anthraquinone-2-carboxylic acid with poly(4-chloromethylstyrene) afforded a high-density redox polymer containing the anthraquinone pendants with reversible charge storage capability at negative potentials near S1 V versus Ag/AgCl. Electrochemically reversible redox response of the polymer, which was ascribed to the reduction of the pendant group to the anion radical and the dianion, suggested that the polymer was sufficiently robust in these redox states for charge storage application. Immobilizing the anthraquinone groups on current collectors was accomplished by the use of the polymer which was swellable and yet insoluble in both aqueous and nonaqueous electrolyte solutions. Such properties allowed the accommodation of external cations from the electrolyte solution to permeate through the polymer layer for electroneutralization of the negative charge produced at the reduced state, which led to the repeatable charging and discharging cycles without degradation of the charge storage capacity. Exploration of the aqueous electrochemistry of anthraquinone, which had been inaccessible by the lack of the solubility of the conjugated and fused-ring molecule in H 2 O, became feasible by virtue of the swelling property of the polymer layer in the aqueous electrolyte. While negative charge was relatively difficult to be stored with redox polymers compared to the positive charge due to the enhanced reactivity in their reduced states and small varieties of the appropriate redox sites, the present polymer was characterized as the excellent organic electrode-active materials that operated at sufficiently negative potentials which was essential for the fabrication of entirely organic batteries.