Electroactive Polymer Complexes for Energy Storage Applications
Summary
Electroactive polymer complexes integrate transition-metal centres and conjugated organic ligands within a macromolecular framework to deliver reversible redox activity and electronic conductivity. These materials—often synthesised by electropolymerisation of metal–ligand monomers—form films capable of storing charge through faradaic processes and double-layer capacitance. Core architectures include metal-salen and salophen complexes, which afford tunable redox potentials and structural versatility via ligand modification. Advances in molecular design, such as asymmetric monomers and heterobimetallic assemblies, have led to enhanced charge transport, stability and specific energy. Composite strategies combining these polymers with carbon nanotubes or graphene boost conductivity and mechanical integrity, yielding hybrid electrodes for supercapacitors and redox-flow batteries. Ongoing research focuses on optimising ion-transport kinetics, cyclability and electrode architecture to approach the performance demands of grid storage and portable electronics while leveraging the low cost and environmental benignity of polymeric systems.
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Electroactive Polymer Complexes for Energy Storage Applications publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in electroactive polymer complexes for energy storage applications across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Electroactive polymer complex: polymer incorporating metal–ligand units that undergo reversible redox reactions and conduct charge.
Electropolymerization: electrochemical process forming a polymer film on an electrode via in situ oxidation and coupling of monomer units.
Doping: reversible insertion or removal of ions or electrons within a polymer matrix to modulate its electrical conductivity.
Redox process: reversible oxidation–reduction reaction facilitating charge storage or transfer in electrochemical systems.
Supercapacitor: high-power electrochemical energy storage device exploiting rapid ion adsorption and faradaic reactions for charge–discharge cycles.
References
- Asymmetric Monomer Design Enables Structural Control of M(Salen)-Type Polymers. Polymers (2023).
- Heterobimetallic conducting polymers based on salophen complexes via electrosynthesis. Journal of Materials Chemistry C (2023).
- Reversible Redox Processes in Polymer of Unmetalated Salen-Type Ligand: Combined Electrochemical in Situ Studies and Direct Comparison with Corresponding Nickel Metallopolymer. International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2022).
- Atomic and Electronic Structure of Metal–Salen Complexes [M(Salen)], Their Polymers and Composites Based on Them with Carbon Nanostructures: Review of X-ray Spectroscopy Studies. Applied Sciences (2024).
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