Conductive Polymers in Lithium-Ion Battery Cathodes: Enhancing Performance and Stability

Abstract

Conducting polymers are extensively researched due to their remarkable characteristics, including adaptable and tunable electrical conductivity, straightforward manufacturing process, enhanced mechanical strength, lightweight composition, affordability, and convenience in handling. Furthermore, they demonstrate outstanding chemical stability and elevated thermal conductivity. Conducting polymers can be easily modified with other substances to create composites with improved performance. They are easy to integrate with other materials, such as metal oxide, metal sulfide, and metal nitride. In the energy sector, especially concerning electrochemical energy storage systems such as lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), conducting polymer composites with metal oxide, phosphate, and sulfide have shown considerable promise as electrode materials. These composites leverage synergistic effects that improve electrical conductivity, increase surface area, and prevent electrode pulverization, ultimately resulting in faster charge and discharge cycles, higher energy density, and enhanced cycling performance. This review offers a comprehensive examination of different types of conducting polymers used in LIB electrodes, provides hints regarding several synthesis methods for producing conducting polymer composites with metal oxide, phosphate, and sulfide, and discusses how the morphology of these composites influences their electrochemical performance.