Polysulfone grafted with anthraquinone-hydroanthraquinone redox as a flexible membrane electrode for aqueous batteries

Polymeric membranes obtained much attention for decades owing to low cost, ease of process, and operation for battery separators, water purification , medical, etc., especially for the preparation of portable device materials. In this paper, we designed a membrane with polysulfone (PSF) grafted anthraquinone-hydroanthraquinone, namely the PSFAQ membrane. Various characterization (such as field emission scanning electron microscopy , transmission electron microscopy , etc.) and battery performance (such as galvanostatic charge/discharge test, cyclic voltammetry , etc.) indicated that the PSFAQ polymer membrane as an electrode can improve its electrochemical performance through pores and exposed anthraquinone-hydroanthraquinone redox couple. Zinc ion battery (ZIB) was assembled with PSFAQ membrane and metallic zinc as the electrode pair. This research proposes a new, safe, and inexpensive material that can be used for water system energy storage.