Perylene based dilithium salt of N,N'-bis (glycinyl) perylene diimide (Li-2-PDI) was synthesized and studied as an electrode material for lithium-ion batteries. The CH2 COOLi functionalization of perylene diimide is a simple strategy to mitigate the dissolution of the monomer in the electrolyte. The Li-2-PDI electrode exhibits excellent capacity retention behaviour and delivers a stable specific capacity of 101 mAh g(-1) after 100 cycles at a current density of 17 mA g(-1), which is 98% of theoretical specific capacity. A remarkably stable capacity of 87 mAh g(-1) was observed even after 1000 cycles with 100% coulombic efficiency at a current density of 200 mA g(-1). The reversible electrochemical lithiation/delithiation mechanism of Li-2-PDI was studied by ex-situ XRD and FT-IR spectroscopic techniques. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.