Tohoku University and UCLA researchers collaborated to make substantial progress toward high-voltage metal-free lithium-ion batteries that employ croconic acid, a tiny organic chemical. This acid, when used as a lithium-ion battery cathode material, maintains a strong working voltage of around 4 V.
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Croconic acid is made up of five carbon atoms that are pentagonally connected to one other, and each of the carbons is bound to oxygen. It also has a high theoretical capacity of 638.6 mAh/g, which is significantly greater than the theoretical capacity of standard lithium-ion battery cathode materials.
The innovation brings us one step closer to metal-free, high-energy, low-cost lithium-ion batteries.
![organic batteries](https://www.cleanfuture.co.in/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/a-4-v-class-metal-free-organic-lithium-ion-battery-gets-closer-to-reality-m.jpg)
Unlike traditional lithium-ion batteries, which rely on rare-earth metals like cobalt and lithium, organic batteries make use of naturally available components like carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen.
![](https://www.cleanfuture.co.in/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/6a00d8341c4fbe53ef02942fa59504200c-500wi.jpg)
Furthermore, because organic batteries are made of organic components, they have higher theoretical capacities than ordinary lithium-ion batteries. Although the theoretical capacity was not reached in this study, the researchers are confident that it may be increased through the creation of high-voltage stable electrolytes and chemical alterations to croconic acid.
Reference- Tohoku University Online Newsroom, Clean Technica, Inside EVs, The Verge, MachineDesign