Аннотация:Herein, we address the problem of complicated synthesis and high cost of organic cathode materials for metal-ionbatteries by utilizing the strategy of pyrolytic conversion of simple organic precursor molecules to redox-activepolymers. As such, a well-known organic oxidation reagent DDQ was converted to the poly-DDQ, whichdemonstrated promising electrochemical characteristics as cathode in potassium cells: specific capacity reached140–175 mAh g− 1 even at high current density, which is comparable to the emerging inorganic cathodes forpotassium-ion batteries. Furthermore, the potassium cells with poly-DDQ cathodes demonstrated excellentcyclability due to the robust structure of the material prepared by high-temperature synthesis. The proposedapproach to the scalable and low-cost synthesis of electrode materials by pyrolysis of readily available precursorsappears to be highly promising in the context of practical applications, particularly for the stationary energystorage, where the cost of the battery and its cycle lifetime represent the most important parameters.