Batteries power many things in our daily lives—from smartphones to electric vehicles—but the material used inside them is far from perfect.
Right now, most metal-ion batteries rely on graphite as their main anode material.
While graphite works, it has several problems: it doesn’t hold much energy, it’s expensive, and producing it requires extremely high temperatures of around 3,000 degrees Celsius. That’s not very energy-efficient or environmentally friendly.
But researchers at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) in Russia may have found a better option.
Their new study, published in the Journal of Energy Storage, looked at using a group of carbon-based compounds called polyaromatic hydrocarbons as an alternative anode material.
These compounds are made from the breakdown of organic materials at lower temperatures, making them much cheaper and easier to produce than graphite.
What makes these organic compounds exciting is their high energy capacity and good electrical conductivity. In simple terms, they can store more energy and allow electricity to flow through the battery more efficiently.
The Skoltech team focused on four types of these compounds: naphthalene, anthracene, tetracene, and pentacene.
They experimented with combining them with different metals commonly used in batteries, including lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, magnesium, and calcium.
Using computer modeling based on a method called density functional theory, the researchers tested how well these metals could be inserted—or “intercalated”—into the crystal structures of the polyaromatic hydrocarbons.
They also carefully corrected for factors like Van der Waals forces, which can affect the accuracy of the energy calculations.
The results were promising. The team found that all combinations of the hydrocarbons with metals outperformed traditional graphite. For example, the lithium, sodium, potassium, and rubidium versions had energy capacities about 1.2 to 1.3 times greater than graphite. Even more impressively, the magnesium and calcium versions offered capacities up to 2.6 times higher.
Besides holding more energy, these organic materials could help reduce the need for rare elements like lithium, make batteries charge and discharge faster, and reduce the physical stress on battery components during use.
Among the four tested compounds, tetracene and pentacene stood out as the most promising candidates for future battery anodes. If further developed, these materials could lead to cheaper, more efficient batteries that last longer and are better for the planet. This research offers a glimpse into the future of battery technology—and it looks bright.
