Mesoporous Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):Poly(styrenesulfonate) as Efficient Iodine Host for High-Performance Zinc–Iodine Batteries

Here, by introducing polystyrenesulfonate (PSS) as a multifunctional bridging molecule to synchronously coordinate the interaction between the precursor and the structure-directing agent, we developed a mesoporous conductive polymer of poly­(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly­(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) featuring adjustable size in the range of 105–1836 nm, open nanochannels, large specific surface area (105.5 m2 g–1), and high electrical conductivity (172.9 S cm–1). Moreover, a large-area ultrathin PEDOT:PSS thin film with well-defined mesopores can also be obtained by controllable growth on various functional interfaces. As an example, we demonstrated that the iodine-loaded mesoporous PEDOT:PSS nanospheres can serve as a promising cathode for aqueous zinc–iodine batteries with high specific capacity (241 mAh g–1), excellent rate performance, and superlong 20,000 cycle life. In-depth theoretical calculations and systematic experimental results together reveal that the exposed sulfur- and oxygen-containing functional groups hold strong interactions with iodine species, resulting in effectively anchoring iodine species and inhibiting the shuttling of polyiodide intermediates, thus ensuring the long-term stability of the batteries. This work introduces a member to the family of mesoporous materials as well as porous polymers with versatile applications.