Crystalline fully carboxylated polyacetylene obtained under high pressure as a Li-ion battery anode material

Wang, X.*; Tang, X.*; Zhang, P.*; Wang, Y.*; Gao, D.*; Liu, J.*; Hui, K.*; Wang, Y.*; Dong, X.*; Hattori, Takanori   ; Sano, Asami   ; Ikeda, Kazutaka*; Miao, P.*; Lin, X.*; Tang, M.*; Zuo, Z.*; Zheng, H.*; Li, K.*; Mao, H.-K.*

Substituted polyacetylene is expected to improve the chemical stability, physical properties, and additional functions of the polyacetylene backbones, but its diversity is very limited. Here, by applying external pressure on solid acetylenedicarboxylic acid, we report the first crystalline poly-dicarboxylacetylene with every carbon on the trans-polyacetylene backbone bonded to a carboxyl group, which is very hard to synthesize by traditional methods. This unique structure combines the extremely high content of carbonyl groups and high conductivity of a polyacetylene backbone, which exhibits a high specific capacity and excellent cycling/rate performance as a Li-ion battery (LIB) anode. We present a completely functionalized crystalline polyacetylene and provide a high-pressure solution for the synthesis of polymeric LIB materials and other polymeric materials with a high content of active groups.