Viologens as charge carriers in a polymer-based battery anode.

Viologens, either as anions in solution or as pendant substituents to pyrrole, were incorporated as dopants to electrodeposited films of polypyrrole. The resulting polymer films exhibited redox activity at -0.5 V vs Ag/AgCl. The film consisting of polypyrrole with pendant viologens exhibited the best charge-discharge behavior with a maximum capacity of 55 mAh/g at a discharge current of 0.25 mA/cm(2). An anode consisting of polypyrrole (pPy) doped with viologen (V) was coupled to a cathode consisting of pPy doped with 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) to yield a polymer-based battery with a cell electromotive force (emf) of 1.0 V, maximum capacity of 16 mAh/g, and energy density of 15 Wh/kg.