H. Dai#, L. Guan#, M. Mao, C. Wang*, Evaluation, Present and Future of Organic Batteries. Nature Reviews Clean Tehcnology Accepted. (Invited)

Abstract
The surge in electricity demand and the pursuit of sustainability call for clean energy and hence large-scale green energy storage systems, positioning organic batteries featuring redox-active materials as promising alternatives to conventional inorganic systems. Despite decades of research progress, the evaluation, the position and the future of organic batteries are still blurry. In this review, we quantitatively and mechanistically analyze the inherent characteristics of organic materials with comparison to inorganic materials and objectively compared the electrochemical performance of organic and inorganic batteries. Combined with the intrinsic characteristics of organic electrode materials and the electrochemical performance of organic batteries, the potential application scenarios of organic batteries are high-specific-energy, large-scale, flexible applications and scenarios under extreme working conditions. In addition, several guidelines are suggested, from target-oriented electrode material design, scale production from a laboratory-level cell to industrial-level battery, to building a green and sustainable battery system. In order to give full play to the superiority of organic batteries and promote their practical applications, more attention should be paid to the sustainability, scalability and implementation of organic batteries as well as relative standards, policies and regulations in the future.