Conducting polymer films grown from various aromatic compounds have been evaluated as overcharge protecting additives for lithium ion rechargeable batteries. The polymer films were grown electrochemically under the conditions similar to those encountered during the overcharging processes of lithium batteries and subsequently characterized by potentiodynamic, electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance, electrochemical impedance spectroscopic, and scanning electron microscopic experiments. Results indicate that bicyclic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons would be poor candidates for inhibitors, while biphenyl, terphenyl, and benzene derivatives displayed excellent performances. Mixed polymer films grown from o-terphenyl and p-xylene show the best performance among the candidates.