Replacing the scarce metal-based positive electrode materials currently used in rechargeable lithium ion batteries with organic compounds helps address environmental issues and might enhance gravimetric electrochemical capacity. The challenge has been to find organic materials with both high capacity and long-cycle life. Here, we study the naphthazarin (5,8-dihydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone) skeleton as a high capacity candidate electrode for lithium-ion batteries, showing a multielectron-transfer type redox reaction. We also use electron energy-loss spectroscopy to reveal the reaction stoichiometry during charge/discharge processes. While the lithium salt of naphthazarin itself helped deliver a high initial capacity, its cycle-life was not satisfactory. Instead, a newly synthesized naphthazarin-dimer shows a lengthened cycle-life without sacrificing the initial high capacity of 416 mAh g⁻¹ and energy density of 1.1 Wh g⁻¹.

用有机化合物代替当前用于可再充电锂离子电池中的稀有金属基正极材料，有助于解决环境问题，并可能提高重量电化学容量。面临的挑战是寻找兼具高容量和长寿命的有机材料。在这里，我们研究萘甲那林（5,8-二羟基-1,4-萘醌）骨架作为锂离子电池的高容量候选电极，显示出多电子转移型氧化还原反应。我们还使用电子能量损失谱来揭示充电/放电过程中的反应化学计量。尽管萘达沙林的锂盐本身有助于提供较高的初始容量，但其循环寿命并不令人满意。代替，^-1和能量密度为1.1 Wh g ^-1。