Electron‐Rich Para ‐Methylpyridine‐Functionalized TEMPO Empowers Long‐Lived Neutral Aqueous Organic Redox Flow Batteries

2,2,6,6‐Tetramethyl‐1‐Piperidinyloxy (TEMPO), one of the most stable nitroxide radicals, has been widely used as a catholyte for aqueous organic redox flow batteries (AORFBs) owing to its high potential and reversible redox characteristics. In spite of improved stability and water‐solubility after several modification strategies, the limited conjugation of the molecular structure and low electron cloud density on the hydrophilic side still hinder its practical applications. Herein, an electron‐rich regulation strategy is employed to obtain three TEMPO catholytes, that is, ortho/meta/para‐ MePy‐TEMPO, which are prepared using a simple and efficient method on account of 2/3/4‐methyl‐pyridinium‐appendant N ‐acetylamino‐functionalization. In comparison to TEMPO analogues, para‐ MePy‐TEMPO has the highest reaction yield and the best battery stability. When paired with diol‐Vi anolyte, the 0.1 M system can maintain unprecedented capacity retention of 99.69% over 5310 cycles under 40 mA·cm −2 current density, and the 1.5 M system can also hold 99.84% capacity over 250 cycles (60 mA·cm −2 ), alongside with 62.3% energy efficiency. The study can not only enrich the promising candidates for TEMPO‐based catholytes but also lay a solid foundation for high‐performance AORFBs.

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Publication Details

Journal
Energy & environment materials
Published
2026-09-06
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/eem2.70506
Primary Topic
Advanced battery technologies research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Electron‐Rich Para ‐Methylpyridine‐Functionalized TEMPO Empowers Long‐Lived Neutral Aqueous Organic Redox Flow Batteries

Xuri Zhang, Sikun Zhang, Gang He, Jianyue He et al.
Energy & environment materials
Advanced battery technologies research
article

Electron‐Rich Para ‐Methylpyridine‐Functionalized TEMPO Empowers Long‐Lived Neutral Aqueous Organic Redox Flow Batteries

Xuri Zhang, Sikun Zhang, Gang He, Jianyue He, Zhikun Xu, Xinhui Fan, Shaopeng Wang, Chi Han, Junjie Huang, Xu Liu, Puiki Leung
article en

Abstract

2,2,6,6‐Tetramethyl‐1‐Piperidinyloxy (TEMPO), one of the most stable nitroxide radicals, has been widely used as a catholyte for aqueous organic redox flow batteries (AORFBs) owing to its high potential and reversible redox characteristics. In spite of improved stability and water‐solubility after several modification strategies, the limited conjugation of the molecular structure and low electron cloud density on the hydrophilic side still hinder its practical applications. Herein, an electron‐rich regulation strategy is employed to obtain three TEMPO catholytes, that is, ortho/meta/para‐ MePy‐TEMPO, which are prepared using a simple and efficient method on account of 2/3/4‐methyl‐pyridinium‐appendant N ‐acetylamino‐functionalization. In comparison to TEMPO analogues, para‐ MePy‐TEMPO has the highest reaction yield and the best battery stability. When paired with diol‐Vi anolyte, the 0.1 M system can maintain unprecedented capacity retention of 99.69% over 5310 cycles under 40 mA·cm −2 current density, and the 1.5 M system can also hold 99.84% capacity over 250 cycles (60 mA·cm −2 ), alongside with 62.3% energy efficiency. The study can not only enrich the promising candidates for TEMPO‐based catholytes but also lay a solid foundation for high‐performance AORFBs.

Energy & environment materials
Xi'an University of Science and Technology (CN), Chongqing University (CN), Xi'an Technological University (CN), Ministry of Education (BD)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, Xi'an University of Science and Technology, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 20%
Advanced battery technologies research
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