The demand for efficient and reliable batteries is rapidly increasing, driven by various factors such as the growing market of health monitoring, wearable technology and other applications of the internet-of-things.[1,2] Raw material security concerns, trade conflicts, and supply chain issues contribute to market volatility and uncertainty and highlight the need for alternative solutions.[3,4] In response to these challenges, organic batteries emerge as a promising and possibly sustainable alternative to conventional batteries.[5] Organic batteries offer a promising solution to these challenges, as they enable fast charging due to the underlying electron transfer mechanism, offer high operational safety and are mechanically flexible, rendering them ideal for wearable applications.[5,6] However, several challenges remain for organic batteries to become a realistic alternative to conventional batteries. One of the biggest challenges is the comparably low mass loading of organic materials, which also have lower specific capacities than inorganic materials. Furthermore, organic materials are often poor electronical conductors, which makes the excessive use of conductive additive necessary.[7]
In this study, TEMPO grafted (poly)-phosphazenes(TG-PPZ) are presented as an emerging organic active material that may counter challenges of resource scarcity and flammability due to their flexible backbone made from abundant materials and their inherently flame extinguishing properties.[8,9] TEMPO grafted phosphazenes act as a derivative to poly(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy-4-yl methacrylate) (PTMA) which is considered the gold standard in the organic electrode research due to its high chemical and mechanical stability, simple synthesis and comparably high theoretical specific capacity for an organic active material (Ctheo = 111 mAh g−1).[5] TG-PPZ should surpass the performance of PTMA because of a higher theoretical specific capacity and more flexible polymer backbone (Ctheo = 132 mAh g−1).[9] The material demonstrates initial specific discharge capacities of 56.5 mAh g−1 at rates of up to 1C (0.1 mAh). To further increase the achievable capacity, the common problem of active material dissolution is tackled by introducing various crosslinkers, as well as solid polymer electrolytes. The crosslinkers are chosen from chemically stable groups that modify the toughness and solubility and thereby should enhance the specific capacity. In addition, different cathode compositions are employed to modify the solvent uptake and reduce brittleness of the materials.

[1] A. K. M, Ramani. R, R. Krishnamoorthy, S. Gogula, Baskar. S, S. Muthu, G. Chellamuthu, K. Subramaniam, “Internet of Things enabled open source assisted real-time blood glucose monitoring framework” Sci. Rep. 2024, 14, 6151.
[2] J. Panidi, D. G. Georgiadou, T. Schoetz, T. Prodromakis, “Advances in Organic and Perovskite Photovoltaics Enabling a Greener Internet of Things” Adv. Funct. Mater. 2022, 32, 2200694.
[3] M. A. Rajaeifar, P. Ghadimi, M. Raugei, Y. Wu, O. Heidrich, “Challenges and recent developments in supply and value chains of electric vehicle batteries: A sustainability perspective” Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 2022, 180, 106144.
[4] Dr. A.Shaji George, “Strategic Battery Autarky: Reducing Foreign Dependence in the Electric Vehicle Supply Chain” 2024, DOI 10.5281/ZENODO.10849907.
[5] D. T. Daniel, S. Oevermann, S. Mitra, K. Rudolf, A. Heuer, R.-A. Eichel, M. Winter, D. Diddens, G. Brunklaus, J. Granwehr, “Multimodal investigation of electronic transport in PTMA and its impact on organic radical battery performance” Sci. Rep. 2023, 13, 10934.
[6] L. Zuo, D. Lu, T. Yang, D. Yue, W. Li, Q. Ma, Y. Chen, C. Zheng, X. Wu, “Recent achievements of free‐standing material and interface optimization in high‐energy‐density flexible lithium batteries” Carbon Neutralization 2022, 1, 316–345.
[7] H. Guo, C. Wang, “Practical organic batteries: Concepts to realize high mass loading with high performance” ChemSusChem 2024, 17, e202301586.
[8] A. W. Knights, M. A. Nascimento, I. Manners, “An investigation of polyphosphinoboranes as flame-retardant materials” Polymer 2022, 247, 124795.
[9] H. R. Allcock, C. Chen, “Polyphosphazenes and the Process of Macromolecular Substitution” ACS Polym. Au 2025, 5, 811–826.