Poly(Ionic Liquids) as Redox Polymers in Energy Storage Applications

Poly(ionic liquids) PILs are being investigated globally as polymer electrolytes or redox polymers to improve the efficiency and safety of electrochemical energy storage systems, particularly batteries. PILs are ion conducting polymer electrolytes and electrode binder material, and are widely used in the field of energy such as batteries and supercapacitors. The wide range of possibilities of incorporating redox-active counter anions with p-ILs to act as redox-active materials is investigated in this chapter; also, there is a discussion on the remarkable electrochemical and physicochemical properties of certain possibly modified electrolytes with PILs. Polymers having specifically identified redox-active molecules often require complex synthetic methods and result in insoluble materials that are very difficult to control. This chapter demonstrates the feasibility of synthesising active PILs by a simple and straightforward anion exchange process. Also, additional highlights of this redox-active PILs are discussed, such as the in their application in electrochemical energy storage systems, including lithium batteries, fuel cells, metal-air batteries, and supercapacitors.