Dr. Nerea Casado
POLYMAT
Dr. Nerea Casado
About the Speaker
Dr. Nerea Casado earned her B.Sc. in Chemistry (2012) and M.Sc. in Applied Chemistry and Polymeric Materials (2013) from the University of the Basque Country, Spain. She was awarded with the Best Academic Record Award 2012 in Chemistry by Kutxa. In April 2017 she defended her PhD Thesis, entitled "Innovative Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) materials for energy storage" under the supervision of Prof. David Mecerreyes and in close collaboration with CIC EnergiGUNE center and Prof. Michel Armand. During her PhD, she made secondments on the group of Maria Forsyth at Deakin University (Australia) studying the electroactivity of polymers in ionic liquids and batteries.
Since September 2022, she is an Ikerbasque Research Fellow at POLYMAT. She has extended experience in the synthesis and characterization of functional polymers including mixed ionic and electronic conducting polymers, redox polymers and ionic compounds for energy storage and bioelectronic applications.
Today, her research line at POLYMAT focuses on the development of new polymeric materials for hydrogen technologies, from green hydrogen production to proton exchange and anion-exchange membrane fuel-cells.
Abstract
Molecular Design of High-Potential PROXYL Radicals for Advanced Organic Batteries
Nerea Casado,1,2 Gabriele Lingua,1 Laura Pastor-Muñoz,3 Eduardo Sanchez-Díez3
1 POLYMAT, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain.
2 IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, E-48011, Bilbao, Spain
3 CIC energiGUNE, Parque Tecnológico de Alava, Albert Einstein 48, 01510, Miñano, Spain
The development of high-energy-density organic batteries relies on redox-active materials that combine fast electron-transfer kinetics, structural tunability, and sustainable design principles. Among the most promising classes of compounds, organic radicals have emerged as highly versatile redox materials due to their reversible one-electron chemistry, high redox kinetics, and molecular design flexibility.[1] These characteristics have enabled their successful implementation in both redox flow batteries and Li-organic battery technologies, offering opportunities for scalable energy storage based on organic active materials with tunable electrochemical performance. However, further improvements in operating voltage remain a key challenge to fully unlock their potential for high-energy applications.
In this talk, we present our recent advances in the design of PROXYL-based radical systems as a new platform to increase the redox potential of organic electrodes beyond the limits of conventional nitroxide chemistries. By rational molecular engineering of the PROXYL scaffold we have developed a redox polymer, poly(PROXYL methacrylate), for Li-organic batteries, [2] as well as catholyte materials for Aqueous Organic Redox Flow Batteries (AORFBs) [3]. We have successfully shifted the redox potential to significantly higher values while preserving the fast and reversible electron-transfer characteristics that define stable organic radical batteries (ORBs). The combination of high redox potential, good cycling stability, and processability demonstrates the potential of PROXYL chemistry to expand the energy density of organic batteries.
References:
- N. Goujon, N. Casado, N. Patil, R. Marcilla, D. Mecerreyes. Organic Batteries based on Just Redox Polymers. Prog. Polym. Sci., 2021, 122, 101449. DOI: 10.1016/j.progpolymsci.2021.101449External link
- L. Gabriele, L. Pastor-Muñoz, E. Sánchez-Díez, D. Mantione; N. Casado. Poly(PROXYL-Methacrylate) Polymer for High Redox Potential Organic Electrodes. ChemElectroChem, 2024, e202400353. DOI: 10.1002/celc.202400353External link
- L. Pastor-Muñoz, M. Aguirre, M. F. Palermo, N. Marquinez, A. Beloki-Arrondo, N. Casado, J. Carrasco, D. Sanchez-Diez. Novel PROXYL catholyte materials for high voltage aqueous organic redox flow batteries. J. Power Sources, 2026, 662, 238786. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2025.238786External link