A 3.8V Quaternary Ammonium-Based Dual-Ion Battery Enabled by a Conjugated Ladder Polymer

Jian Zhang; Qing Lang; Evgenia Dmitrieva; Fang Chen; Jiayuan Yu; Yixiao Yang; Liang Chen; Gang Wang

doi:10.1002/anie.202511864

A 3.8V Quaternary Ammonium-Based Dual-Ion Battery Enabled by a Conjugated Ladder Polymer

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2025 Jun 27:e202511864. doi: 10.1002/anie.202511864. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Jian Zhang¹, Qing Lang¹, Evgenia Dmitrieva², Fang Chen³, Jiayuan Yu⁴, Yixiao Yang⁴, Liang Chen⁴, Gang Wang⁵

Affiliations

¹ Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering CAS: Chinese Academy of Sciences Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Institute of New Energy Technology, CNITECH, CHINA.
² Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden: Leibniz-Institut fur Festkorper- und Werkstoffforschung Dresden eV, Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden, GERMANY.
³ Ningbo University of Technology, School of New Energy, CHINA.
⁴ Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering CAS: Chinese Academy of Sciences Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Institute of New Energy Technology, CN, CHINA.
⁵ Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering CAS, Institute of New Energy Technology, CNITECH, 1219 West Zhongguan Road, Zhenhai District, 315201, Ningbo, CHINA.

PMID: 40575944
DOI: 10.1002/anie.202511864

Abstract

Rechargeable batteries based on non-metal charge carriers like NH4+ recently have attracted intensive attention due to high safety, environmental friendliness, low cost and fast kinetics. However, NH4+ electrolytes suffer from a narrow electrochemical potential window, making it challenging to construct high-voltage and energy-dense devices. Here we report a quaternary ammonium (NR4+)-based dual-ion battery (DIB) working at a high voltage of 3.8V, which was enabled by a conjugated ladder polymer poly(benzobisimidazobenzophenanthroline) (BBL) anode for NR4+ storage and a graphite cathode for anion uptake. The BBL functions as an efficient NR4+ host by carbonyl/enol transformation, delivering a high capacity of 120 mAh/g, low average potential, high stability and excellent rate performance. In the redox process, the electronic and ionic conductivities of BBL change periodically, accompanied with the formation of radical anion (●-) and diradical dianion (2●-). In combination with an anion-intercalation graphite cathode, the assembled graphite//BBL DIB exhibits a maximum energy/power density up to 232 Wh/kg and 6865 W/kg based on mass of graphite, superior rate performance and high cycling stability without capacity attenuation. Our work demonstrates the feasibility of NR4+ as cation carrier and its efficient host, which will inspire novel design for high-performance non-metallic energy storage devices.

Keywords: anion intercalation; dual-ion battery; ladder polymer; quaternary ammonium.