Cho Yukio, Fincher Cole D, Lamour Guillaume, Christoff-Tempesta Ty, Zuo Xiaobing, Chiang Yet-Ming, Ortony Julia H
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Nat Chem. 2025 Aug 28. doi: 10.1038/s41557-025-01917-6.
Performance often overshadows recyclability in contemporary battery designs, leading to sustainability challenges. Preemptive strategies integrating recyclable chemistry from the outset are thus increasingly critical for addressing the complexities in conventional recycling. Here we harness bio-inspired molecular self-assembly to create inherently recyclable battery materials. We use aramid amphiphiles that self-assemble in water through strong, collective hydrogen bonding and π-π stacking, forming air-stable, high-aspect-ratio nanoribbons with gigapascal-level stiffness. When processed into bulk solid-state electrolytes, these nanoribbons retain their ordered molecular arrangement and exhibit total conductivities of 1.6 × 10 S cm at 50 °C, Young's moduli of 70 MPa and toughness values of 1 MJ m, despite being stabilized solely by reversible non-covalent bonds. We further demonstrate clean separation of battery components by exposing used cells to an organic solvent, which disrupts the non-covalent cohesion and reverts all battery components to their original forms. This study underscores the potential of molecular self-assembly for specialized recyclable designs in energy storage applications.
在当代电池设计中，性能往往掩盖了可回收性，从而带来可持续性挑战。因此，从一开始就整合可回收化学的先发策略对于应对传统回收中的复杂性愈发关键。在此，我们利用受生物启发的分子自组装来制造本质上可回收的电池材料。我们使用芳纶两亲分子，它们通过强大的集体氢键和π-π堆积在水中自组装，形成具有吉帕斯卡级刚度的空气稳定、高纵横比的纳米带。当加工成块状固态电解质时，这些纳米带保留其有序的分子排列，在50°C时表现出1.6×10⁻³ S cm⁻¹的总电导率、70 MPa的杨氏模量和1 MJ m⁻³的韧性值，尽管仅通过可逆的非共价键稳定。我们进一步通过将使用过的电池暴露于有机溶剂来展示电池组件的清洁分离，这会破坏非共价内聚力并使所有电池组件恢复到原始形式。这项研究强调了分子自组装在储能应用中进行特殊可回收设计的潜力。
