Study of Li4-DMTA & Li6-DHBDHA as Potential Li-Containing Organic Cathode Materials

In the research of greener and sustainable battery chemistries able to address the contemporary environmental issues on greenhouse gas emissions and scarce resources exploitation, many efforts are currently directed towards the development of organic electrode materials compatible with the well-known Li-ion technology. Among the various redox active patterns that provides organic chemistry, quinone derivatives drew considerable attention for the design of air-stable positive electrode materials. Whereas quinone derivatives usually exhibit a two-electron reversible redox, a scientific curiosity remains concerning the redox behavior of the lithium salt of 2,5-dihydroxyterepthalate (Li4-p-DHT) that can reversibly exchange only one electron and thus, cannot access its quinonic form. In this master thesis, will be discussed the work performed during this year on the synthesis and electrochemistry of two Li4-p-DHT analogues: the lithium salts of 2,5-dimercaptoterepthalic acid (Li4-DMTA) and 2,5-dihydroxy-1,4-benzdihydroxamic acid (Li6-DHBDHA). While the results obtained for Li4-DMTA raise questions about its feasibility and do not highlight any reversible redox activity thus far, Li6-DHBDHA displays an electrochemical response when exposed to ambient air and in solid-state cell that seems to involve different redox active functions which calls for further investigation of this new organic battery chemistry.