Rechargeable Aqueous Polymer-Air Batteries Based on Polyanthraquinone Anode

Summary Aqueous metal-air batteries have attracted great interest because of their high safety and relatively high energy density. However, poor reversibility and instability of metal anodes limit their cycling life. Here, we report an aqueous polymer-air battery using conjugated organic polymer poly(1,4-anthraquinone) (P14AQ) in situ polymerized on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as the anode and spinel cobalt manganese oxide supported on CNTs (CMO@CNT) as the catalyzed cathode. The P14AQ/CNT-air battery exhibits long cycling life of 500 cycles with 92% capacity retention and superior rate capability (147 mAh g −1 P14AQ , 38.5 C) because of the high reversibility of the P14AQ/CNT anode and the excellent catalytic performance of the CMO@CNT cathode. We constructed a pouch-type P14AQ/CNT-air battery that displays a high capacity of 1,025 mAh (corresponding to an energy density of 165 Wh kg −1 based on total mass of P14AQ and CMO) and good capacity retention of 95% after 100 cycles, showing promise for potential large-scale application.