ELECTRICALLY ACTIVE POLYMERS Battery

Lead dioxide is electrically conductive and is formed ia place as the active material of the positive plates of lead-acid storage batteries. Because it is a vigorous oxidizing agent when heated, it is used ia the manufacture of dyes, chemicals, matches (qv), pyrotechnics (qv), and Hquid polysulfide polymers (42) (see Polypous containing sulfur). 

Carbon powder mixed with polymeric binder (PVdF, PTFE) has been widely used as anode material for lithium ion batteries and as the electrode material for EDLC with liquid electrolyte solutions. When such composite electrodes composed of carbon powder and polymer binder were used in all-solid-state EDLC, the performance was not good enough because of poor electrical contact between the electrode s active mass and the electrolyte. By having the electrolyte inside the composite electrode, the contact between the active mass in the electrode and the electrolyte can be considerably improved and hence the capacitance can... 

While the successful commercial demonstration of a pure polymer electrolyte Li battery has not yet occurred, developmental batteries have been demonstrated. An ongoing joint venture between the 3M Company and the Canadian utility Hydro-Quebec has recently produced a Li metal anode/intercalation cathode electric vehicle (EV)-oriented battery which operates at 60-80°C. Approximately 600 cycles to 80% depth of discharge have been demonstrated by using an approximate threefold molar excess of Li metal foil to cathode active material with LiN(S02CF3)2 solute and a VO cathode. 

Conducting polymers such as polyacetylene, polypyrrole, polyaniline, polythiophene, etc. have been actively studied for use in various fields due to their interesting properties batteries,46 electrochromic displays,47 materials for supercapacitors,48 corrosion protection,49 protecting layers for static electricity,50 materials for organic electroluminescence displays,51 sensing materials,52 etc. Polypyrrole is reported to be extremely rigid, with a semi-crystalline structure. 

In the last few decades, conductive polymers have found exciting new relevance in non-rechargeable (primary) and rechargeable (secondary) batteries for electrical storage. Besides high electrical conductivity, conductive polymers have high selectivity to electrode reaction, low catalytic activity towards side-reactions, sufficient mechanical strength, fabricability, costs etc. 

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