ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE AND THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF LI-IONINSERTION IN SULFONAMIDES COMPOUNDS AS ORGANIC HIGH-ENERGY DENSITY CATHODES

Abstract: The world’s ever-growing energy demand has evoked great interest in exploring renewable energy sources along with sustainable energy storage systems. While inorganic physics of rocking chair mechanism used in Li-ion battery have proven to provide high energy density and high performance, there are problems yet to be overcome in terms of sustainability and recyclability. This is why research in organic batteries has been on the rise, yet the diversity of organic battery frameworks remains limited and requires overcoming multiple obstacles that restrain the performance of an all-organic battery system. A recent advance in the design of organic electrode material by Wang et al. has shown the possibility of a new stable and tunable class of conjugated sulfonamides (CSA) with an experimental voltage range between 2.85V and 3.45V [5]. A theoretical approach to study these organic materials is taken in this thesis research where the effects of such compounds on the redox potential, physics of ion insertion, and other thermodynamical properties are examined. Density Functional Theory (DFT) is employed in this investigation along with an evolutionary algorithm to generate information about the crystal structure of mentioned systems, their density of states (DOS), and charge distribution in pristine form and after lithiation. Quinone systems with oxygen groups were investigated in a previous research project that complements this thesis which looks into a quinone system with sulfonamide compounds where a comparison between the two could offer more understanding of the electrochemistry of such systems for their application in batteries as high performing organic cathode materials on a par with other inorganic materials.