Electropolymerization of Tetraaminophenazine Tetraone as the Electrode Material for Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries

Conducting polymers are promising candidates as charge storage materials for aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs). Herein, 2,3,7,8-tetraaminophenazine-1,4,6,9-tetraone (TAPT) is prepared and is electropolymerized from aqueous solution by using the galvanostatic method to form poly(TAPT) on carbon cloth substrate (PTAPT/CC). PTAPT is crystalline and exhibits a rough surface. ZIB with PTAPT/CC demonstrates ultrahigh stability, with 81.82% specific capacity maintained after 30,000 charging and discharging cycles at 10 A g–1. At 0.1 A g–1, the specific capacity reaches 261 mAh g–1. As demonstrated by characterizations, the charge storage mechanism involves the participation of both Zn2+ and H+, accompanied by the redox of hydroxyl/carbonyl and amino/imino groups. This study shows that electropolymerization is a facile and powerful method to synthesize conducting polymers as energy storage materials with high cycling stability.