Are semiconductor polymers suitable for application in advanced Li batteries

Recent electrochemical studies have demonstrated that the electrochemical doping process of polyacetylene in organic electrolytes is controlled by the diffusion of the dopant species throughout the polymer and thus that polyacetylene suffers from low charge-discharge coulombic efficiency and from poor stability. Therefore, large research efforts are presently devoted to the characterization of various semiconductor polymers which might result in more effective cyclability and stability than polyacetylene. The majority of these polymers are prepared electrochemically. The preparation conditions appear critical for the final performance as electrodes in Li batteries. The characteristics of some electrochemical polymerization processes are discussed