Conjugated microporous polymers for energy storage: Recent progress and challenges

Conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) are emerging as an important class of materials, finding application in many fields, with applications in energy storage of current importance and significance. We have here summarized the potential of this class of materials, and progress made in the field of energy storage focusing on supercapacitors, lithium and sodium ion batteries. Owing to the high surface areas of these materials, the unique charge storage processes found in CMPs are discussed, and have provided an overview of how CMPs can enable ultrafast batteries with high energy density. A comparison of CMPs and linear polymers is also provided, providing further guidance on design of active materials. The most important challenges faced by CMPs in the energy storage fields has been analyzed, with possible solutions to some of the problems that are currently faced presented. The hope is that this overview would be an interesting and inspirational read to the researcher community in energy storage.