title: Lithium salt of tetrahydroxybenzoquinone: toward the development of a sustainable Li-ion battery.
abstract: The use of lithiated redox organic molecules containing electrochemically active C=O functionalities, such as lithiated oxocarbon salts, is proposed. These represent alternative electrode materials to those used in current Li-ion battery technology that can be synthesized from renewable starting materials. The key material is the tetralithium salt of tetrahydroxybenzoquinone (Li(4)C(6)O(6)), which can be both reduced to Li(2)C(6)O(6) and oxidized to Li(6)C(6)O(6). In addition to being directly synthesized from tetrahydroxybenzoquinone by neutralization at room temperature, we demonstrate that this salt can readily be formed by the thermal disproportionation of Li(2)C(6)O(6) (dilithium rhodizonate phase) under an inert atmosphere. The Li(4)C(6)O(6) compound shows good electrochemical performance vs Li with a sustained reversibility of approximately 200 mAh g(-1) at an average potential of 1.8 V, allowing a Li-ion battery that cycles between Li(2)C(6)O(6) and Li(6)C(6)O(6) to be constructed.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Réactivité et Chimie des Solides-UMR CNRS 6007, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, 33 rue Saint-Leu, 80039 Amiens, France.
authors.forename: Haiyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Armand
authors.forename: Matthieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Courty
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Clare P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Grey
authors.forename: Franck
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dolhem
authors.forename: Jean-Marie
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Tarascon
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Poizot