Benzoquinone‐ and Naphthoquinone‐Bearing Polymers Synthesized by Ring‐Opening Metathesis Polymerization as Cathode Materials for Lithium‐Ion Batteries

Abstract Organic electrode materials have attracted great interest for next‐generation lithium‐ion batteries owing to their merits of low cost, resource sustainability, and environmental friendliness. Dissolution in organic electrolyte is one of critical factors that limit their development, and constructing corresponding polymers is an effective way to prevent it. Herein, the synthesis of benzoquinone‐ and naphthoquinone‐bearing polymers by ring‐opening metathesis polymerization of monomers with an exo ‐type four‐membered ring between polymerizable norbornene and redox‐active quinone units is reported. They exhibit significantly reduced solubility and clearly enhanced electrochemical performance. In particular, a high capacity (189.7 mAh g −1 at 0.1 C, 1 C=216.1 mA g −1 ), stable cycling (75.6 % capacity retention after 500 cycles at 2 C), and good rate capability (retaining 80.4 % from 0.1 to 2 C) were obtained for the naphthoquinone‐bearing polymer, which stand out among naphthoquinone‐bearing polymer electrode materials. This work offers rational molecular design and a new polymerization strategy to construct high‐performance polymer electrode materials.