Advances in Phytochemistry, Textile and Renewable Energy Research for
Industrial Growth – Nzila et al. (Eds)
© 2022 Copyright the Author(s), ISBN: 978-1-032-11871-0
Open Access: www.taylorfrancis.com, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license
Redox potential advances of quinone derivatives for energy storage
applications
C.K. Kosgei & H. Kirimi
ABSTRACT: Natural quinone’s electron transfer role is an important aspect in a number of areas like biochemistry, medicine, and electrochemical redox reactions for energy storage applications. This electroactive
nature of quinones has placed them as of interest for energy storage and energy harvesting applications. Recent
rechargeable energy storage systems which have been advanced are redox flow batteries (RFB), pseudocapacitors, and Li-ion batteries made up of reversible quinone redox couples. Quinone and its derivatives are preferred
as redox active compounds used to fabricate rechargeable batteries due to their relative high energy density, fast
charging rate, solubility in electrolytes, abundance, and cyclic stability. This review paper summarizes quinone’s
molecular structure, its electrochemical behavior, quinone redox predictions, and the strides made in predicting
its redox potential computationally. These recent advances in the functionalization of quinone hybrid materials
based on their redox properties applications can provide solutions to the engineering of bio-inspired energy
storage systems such as rechargeable batteries.
Keywords: Quinone derivatives, rechargeable batteries, quinone, electron-withdrawing functional groups,
electron-donating functional groups
1 INTRODUCTION
There is pressure to focus on renewable energy sources
like wind and photovoltaics. The mismatch between
this intermittent supply and demand has increased the
need for rechargeable batteries. Storage of this energy
with a growing need for the development of renewable energy sources is inevitable. A major challenge
for exploratory research is to design electrical energy
storage (EES) batteries for both mobile and stationary applications. Lithiumbased rechargeable battery
anode materials has resulted in an advanced battery
technology with high theoretical capacity. However,
these materials are expensive, limited, and are a threat
to the environment.
Here we discuss a category of energy storage electrode materials that exhibits favorable electrochemical
and chemical properties of a class of molecules called
quinones (Hukinston et al., 2014). These molecules are
organic carbonyl compounds whose role is to transport electrons in biological processes like respiration
and photosynthesis. In respiration they transfer electrons from enzyme complex I to enzyme complex II,
while in photosynthesis quinones’ role is to transfer electrons from photosystem II to photo-system
I. Due to these energy conversion involvements and
their stable redox chemistry quinones have been valued in electrical energy storage buildup. Therefore, it
makes it necessary to investigate further the factors
regulating the reaction pathways and the potentials of
different species of quinone–hydroquinone biological
systems for energy storage applications. Electron spin
resonance (Dan & Neta, 1975) (Meisei & Czapski,
1975; Meisei & Fessenden, 1976), Pulse radiolysis
techniques and electrochemical methods like cyclic
voltammetry, polarography, square wave voltammetry, DFT, and so forth, have been employed in the
investigation of the redox behavior of varied quinone
systems.
1
1 (Rao, Lown, & Plambeck, 1978) (S.I & M.I, 1985)
(Molinier-Jumel, Malfoy, Reynaud, & Aubel-Sadron, 1978)
(Baldwin, Packett, & Woodcock, 1981) (Chaney Jr & Baldwin, 1982) (Kano, Konse, Nishimura, & Kubota, 1984)
(Guin, Das, & Mandal, 2008) (Mairanovskii, 1968) (Tachi,
1954) (Hahn & Lee, 2004) (El-Hady, Abde-Hamid, Seliem,
& E-Maali, 2004) (Zhang, Wu, & Hu, 2002) (Hu & Li,
1999) (Kertesz, Chambers, & Mullenix, 1999) (Yi & Gratzl,
1998) (Gill & Stonehill, 1952) (Furman & Stone, 1948)
(Guin, Das, & Mandal, 2010) (Anson & Epstein, 1968)
(O’Kelly & Forester, 1998) (Berg, 1961) (Shiu & Song, 1996)
(Kahlert, 2008) (Shi & Shiu, 2004) (Bechtold, Gutmann,
Burtscher, & Bobleter, 1997) (Soriaga & Hubbard, 1982) (He,
Crooks, & Faulkner, 1990) (Turner & Elying, 1965) (Koshy,
Sawayambunathan, & Periasamy, 1980) (Soriaga, White,
& Hubbard, Orientation of aromatic compounds adsorbed
on platinum electrodes. The effect of temperature, 1983)
(Soriaga, Stickney, & Hubrard, Electrochemical oxidation of
aromatic compounds adsorbed on platinum electrodes. The
influence of molecular orientation, 1983) (Hubbard, Stickney, & Soriaga, 1984) (Soriaga, Binamira-Soriaga, Benziger,
302
DOI 10.1201/9781003221968-40
Industrial Growth – Nzila et al. (Eds)
© 2022 Copyright the Author(s), ISBN: 978-1-032-11871-0
Open Access: www.taylorfrancis.com, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license
Redox potential advances of quinone derivatives for energy storage
applications
C.K. Kosgei & H. Kirimi
ABSTRACT: Natural quinone’s electron transfer role is an important aspect in a number of areas like biochemistry, medicine, and electrochemical redox reactions for energy storage applications. This electroactive
nature of quinones has placed them as of interest for energy storage and energy harvesting applications. Recent
rechargeable energy storage systems which have been advanced are redox flow batteries (RFB), pseudocapacitors, and Li-ion batteries made up of reversible quinone redox couples. Quinone and its derivatives are preferred
as redox active compounds used to fabricate rechargeable batteries due to their relative high energy density, fast
charging rate, solubility in electrolytes, abundance, and cyclic stability. This review paper summarizes quinone’s
molecular structure, its electrochemical behavior, quinone redox predictions, and the strides made in predicting
its redox potential computationally. These recent advances in the functionalization of quinone hybrid materials
based on their redox properties applications can provide solutions to the engineering of bio-inspired energy
storage systems such as rechargeable batteries.
Keywords: Quinone derivatives, rechargeable batteries, quinone, electron-withdrawing functional groups,
electron-donating functional groups
1 INTRODUCTION
There is pressure to focus on renewable energy sources
like wind and photovoltaics. The mismatch between
this intermittent supply and demand has increased the
need for rechargeable batteries. Storage of this energy
with a growing need for the development of renewable energy sources is inevitable. A major challenge
for exploratory research is to design electrical energy
storage (EES) batteries for both mobile and stationary applications. Lithiumbased rechargeable battery
anode materials has resulted in an advanced battery
technology with high theoretical capacity. However,
these materials are expensive, limited, and are a threat
to the environment.
Here we discuss a category of energy storage electrode materials that exhibits favorable electrochemical
and chemical properties of a class of molecules called
quinones (Hukinston et al., 2014). These molecules are
organic carbonyl compounds whose role is to transport electrons in biological processes like respiration
and photosynthesis. In respiration they transfer electrons from enzyme complex I to enzyme complex II,
while in photosynthesis quinones’ role is to transfer electrons from photosystem II to photo-system
I. Due to these energy conversion involvements and
their stable redox chemistry quinones have been valued in electrical energy storage buildup. Therefore, it
makes it necessary to investigate further the factors
regulating the reaction pathways and the potentials of
different species of quinone–hydroquinone biological
systems for energy storage applications. Electron spin
resonance (Dan & Neta, 1975) (Meisei & Czapski,
1975; Meisei & Fessenden, 1976), Pulse radiolysis
techniques and electrochemical methods like cyclic
voltammetry, polarography, square wave voltammetry, DFT, and so forth, have been employed in the
investigation of the redox behavior of varied quinone
systems.
1
1 (Rao, Lown, & Plambeck, 1978) (S.I & M.I, 1985)
(Molinier-Jumel, Malfoy, Reynaud, & Aubel-Sadron, 1978)
(Baldwin, Packett, & Woodcock, 1981) (Chaney Jr & Baldwin, 1982) (Kano, Konse, Nishimura, & Kubota, 1984)
(Guin, Das, & Mandal, 2008) (Mairanovskii, 1968) (Tachi,
1954) (Hahn & Lee, 2004) (El-Hady, Abde-Hamid, Seliem,
& E-Maali, 2004) (Zhang, Wu, & Hu, 2002) (Hu & Li,
1999) (Kertesz, Chambers, & Mullenix, 1999) (Yi & Gratzl,
1998) (Gill & Stonehill, 1952) (Furman & Stone, 1948)
(Guin, Das, & Mandal, 2010) (Anson & Epstein, 1968)
(O’Kelly & Forester, 1998) (Berg, 1961) (Shiu & Song, 1996)
(Kahlert, 2008) (Shi & Shiu, 2004) (Bechtold, Gutmann,
Burtscher, & Bobleter, 1997) (Soriaga & Hubbard, 1982) (He,
Crooks, & Faulkner, 1990) (Turner & Elying, 1965) (Koshy,
Sawayambunathan, & Periasamy, 1980) (Soriaga, White,
& Hubbard, Orientation of aromatic compounds adsorbed
on platinum electrodes. The effect of temperature, 1983)
(Soriaga, Stickney, & Hubrard, Electrochemical oxidation of
aromatic compounds adsorbed on platinum electrodes. The
influence of molecular orientation, 1983) (Hubbard, Stickney, & Soriaga, 1984) (Soriaga, Binamira-Soriaga, Benziger,
302
DOI 10.1201/9781003221968-40