Organic materials supporting the arising battery gigafactories

Europe needs to emerge as a global leader in the field of batteries by accelerating the development of underlying strategic technologies and, in parallel, building a European battery cell manufacturing industry based on clean energy and circular economy. Europe has the potential to take the lead if we combine our strengths, create a more coordinated and truly collaborative approach that unites industry, researchers, policymakers and the public. With the aim of inventing ultra-high-performance batteries being safe, affordable, sustainable and with a long lifetime, organic chemistry emerges as a key field to design new materials aiming at targeting battery gigafactories requirements. In this contribution the main activities carried out at the Electrochemistry Group of the Politecnico di Torino in collaboratorion with international organic chemistry groups will be presented, with a special focus on: - Polymer electrolytes able to ensure safety and self-repairing ability to lithium batteries; - Recovery of lignin-based biomasses to produce post-lithium batteries. - Exploiting lithium battery background to boost emerging chemical processes, e.g. electrochemical nitrogen reduction to produce sustainable ammonia. This contribution also aims to start new collaborations within the Organic Chemistry Division of SCI, a scientific community which could give a precious contribution in this strategic field.