Redox-active and conductive polymers

Synthesis and development of redox-active, conductive or conjugated polymers and structures

Redox-active polymer nanostructures in batteries

Based on the work on reactive monomers, various components for organic batteries are being developed in a collaboration with the Schubert group. Among others, an emulsion and precipitation process was developed to obtain defined suspensions of a redox active polymer bearing 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyloxyl (TEMPO) units. We managed to realise the entire preparation process in water including the electrolyte, using a methacrylamide derivative to create a Zn-based hybrid battery. Despite the very high material amount at the cathode, more than 70% of the active material could be charged for over 80 cycles and thus a total capacity of > 4 mAh could be maintained in a coin cell. Further work deals with the design of core-shell systems and alternative active materials.

Conjugated polymers and polyelectrolytes

The working group still has extensive expertise in the synthesis of conjugated polymers or semiconducting polymers in general. Related to the other research topics, reactive groups are integrated for selective modifications or for the preparation of conjugated polyelectrolytes. The incorporation of sulfonium groups into substituted polythiophene, for example, leads to a water-soluble material that features a broad absorption up to 650 nm and a high conductivity in thin films. In addition, other organic semiconductor materials can be synthesised that aggregate supramolecularly to form long fibres.