Batteries power everything, from laptops to smartphones, drones to electric cars.
Batteries have also taken to the sky as several companies are working on battery-
powered electric aircraft!
However, the current lithium-ion batteries have several
limitations that affect their applications in many practical ways.
Scientists have been working hard on using different materials
to make better batteries.
One of such new materials is graphene, but there has not been
a significant breakthrough!
However, a group of researchers has developed a new graphene
battery that promises huge improvements.
Who are these scientists, and how does their graphene battery work?
Join us as we dive into the new graphene battery revealed by scientists that changes
everything!
Most of the world's electronics that can work without being plugged into a socket are
equipped with batteries.
The battery's job is to store the electricity that powers the
device.
When the amount of charge in the battery goes down, the device is plugged into
a power source, which could be another battery, and the amount of charge is brought
up again.
Thanks to lithium-ion batteries, electric vehicles have come to stay.
Before the advent of lithium-ion batteries, EVs suffered from prohibitively
limiting driving ranges and long charging times.
However, lithium-ion batteries have allowed cars to have longer ranges
and shorter charging times.
This is not to say lithium-ion batteries don't have their own drawbacks.
Despite that they offer improvements, they are still heavy.
In fact, they make electric cars heavier than internal combustion engine cars.
They also still take long to charge and cost so much,
pushing the price of EVs higher than many people can afford.
Also, liquid or gel electrolytes are flammable and can freeze,
so they need costly warming, cooling, and safety monitoring.
Additionally, fast charging can result in lithium metal spikes that can
pierce the battery's permeable "separator," short-circuiting the cell.
While solid-state batteries promise some improvements, one downside is that lithium
formation on the anode causes the cell to physically expand, which must be accounted
for in the pack design.
They are also costly to produce, and several companies are
scrambling to bring down the price as they race to be the first to offer them as a product!
One area of battery research that has been generating a buzz is graphene-based
battery.
It has been lauded as the next frontier in battery development and will solve
many lithium-ion battery problems.
But what exactly is graphene?
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501CTHREE, go to omaze.com/futureunity Back to the what graphene is.
Graphene is a one-atom-thick layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice.
It is the building block of Graphite that you
find in the tip of the ordinary pencil.
However, graphene is a remarkable substance with numerous
astonishing properties that have earned it the title "wonder material."
Graphene is the thinnest material known to man at one atom thick and incredibly strong!
It is about 200 times stronger than steel!
Apart from that, graphene is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity and has
interesting light absorption abilities.
Graphene can change the world as it is a material with
unlimited potential for integration in almost any industry!
Graphene is a highly diverse material that can be combined with other elements
(including gases and metals) to produce different materials with superior properties.
Researchers worldwide continue to constantly investigate and patent graphene to learn
its various properties and possible applications, which include transistors, computer
chips, supercapacitors, and even DNA sequencing!
Graphene is also useful in water filters, antennas, touchscreens for LCD or
OLED displays, and solar cells!
Graphene is extremely useful, and scientists are finding new applications for it every
day!
However, producing high-quality materials is still a challenge.
Dozens of companies worldwide are already making different
types and grades of graphene materials, from high-quality single-layer
graphene synthesized using a CVD-based process to graphene flakes produced from Graphite
in large volumes.
High-end graphene sheets are primarily used in R&D activities or in extreme
applications such as sensors, but graphene flakes, produced in large volumes and at
lower prices, are adopted in many applications such as sports equipment, consumer
electronics, automotive and more.
However, one of the hottest areas of graphene R&D is battery.
Battery makers are interested in graphene for several reasons,
especially for application in electric vehicles.
They want to take advantage of the high porosity, greater surface area, extreme
strength, and lightweight to improve their batteries.
Additionally, these materials possess high-charging capability and flexibility
and are good conductors of thermal and electrical energy, making them a suitable
material to store energy.
The high electrical conductivity of graphene increases the electrode density and
accelerates the chemical reaction within the battery, which enables greater power
transfer and faster charge speeds with less heat.
Graphene also undergoes less degradation compared to lithium while delivering
an improved performance, which prolongs the lifespan of EV batteries substantially.
Moreover, graphene batteries are also cost-efficient and sustainable compared
to other EV batteries.
Among the different graphene-based battery technologies and types, graphene lithium-
ion batteries are expected to be implemented soonest.
Solid-state graphene batteries could begin arriving within the next 4 to
8 years, and graphene supercapacitors within ten years.
Graphene sodium-ion and graphene aluminum-ion batteries can realistically
replace lithium-ion batteries.
They are much cheaper and easier to recycle, and sodium
and aluminum are more abundant in nature than lithium.
Graphene aluminum-ion batteries can become the primary EV battery in the future as
graphene aluminum cells can charge 60 times faster compared to lithium-ion cells and
hold significantly more energy than pure aluminum cells.
For instance, graphene aluminum-ion cells can recharge an AA battery
within a minute and a coin-cell battery in 10 seconds.
One of the companies pursuing graphene battery tech is Nanotech Energy, a startup
based in Los Angeles.
Nanotech has found a way to eliminate the safety concerns of
batteries once and for all with a fireproof, graphene-based lithium-ion battery!
This is huge as it is a true game-changer in the battery
industry!
Nanotech has developed graphene electrodes: the battery's positive, the cathode, and
the negative terminal, the anode.
Graphene's flexibility means that it can withstand the
volume changes of the battery electrodes during charge and discharge.
This reduces the chances of an internal short circuit,
which can potentially lead to a fire.
What's more, graphene is an excellent conductor of electricity, which helps the battery
maintain a lower internal resistance.
This means Nanotech's battery can maintain a
lower internal temperature!
As a result, it provides an efficient solution to overheating
during charging, another potential cause of fire!
The fire hazard of the conventional lithium-ion battery stems from the electrolyte, which
is a vital part as it transfers lithium ions between the two electrodes during charge and
discharge.
It happens to be the most explosive component!
Most electrolytes in use today involve dissolving a lithium salt in
a liquid material composed primarily of linear and cyclic chain carbonates.
Basically, molecules that involve a carbon atom attach to
three oxygen atoms.
These liquids are typically flammable and can be volatile and
unstable when exposed to high temperatures.
To avoid this problem, Nanotech has developed a proprietary electrolyte solution, called
OrganoLyte that is stable.
It is made from inexpensive materials, easy to manufacture,
and, of course, non-flammable!
The graphene battery electrodes must be separated by a material through which the
ions transfer.
Here again, Nanotech Energy has replaced the typical polyolefin
separator with a new material that improves on polyolefin's thermal stability.
This also helps to make the batteries safer.
Of course, you don't expect Nanotech to share its secret sauce with the rest of the world
as that would be playing into the hands of their competitor.
However, the name suggests the material still centers around
organic chemistry.
However, Nanotech has run a series of tests to demonstrate that its graphene-
OrganoLyte battery shows enhanced thermal stability and eliminates fire risk.
In the short video distributed to media houses, the
company conducts a nail abuse test and a heating test at 180 degrees Celsius.
In both, the standard lithium-ion battery used
instantly catches fire, while the graphene battery remains unharmed!
It is like watching the impossible happen!
Meanwhile, testing Nanotech's graphene battery has yielded some impressive results!
The battery maintains performance at extreme temperatures; -20 to 60 degrees Celsius.
But it holds charge at temperatures as high as 176 degrees and won't catch fire when
penetrated with a nail or heated to more than 704 degrees!
But apart from high resistance to fire, Nanotech's battery is extremely powerful.
It retains more than 80 percent of its rated
capacity through 1,400 cycles and charges 18
times faster than anything currently available!
This is courtesy of graphene's strong electrical conductivity, which lowers the
battery's internal resistance.
In addition, the company's new batteries can be completely personalized to fit any form
factor or container and can be used for consumer electronics, electric vehicles, and any
electrified machines.
Another advantage of Nanotech's graphene battery is that it is easy to manufacture.
Current manufacturing equipment and processes currently in use to make lithium-ion
pouch and cylinder batteries can produce Nanotech's graphene battery.
A factory designed to build them is currently slated
to open in late 2022 in Nevada!
Let's hear what you think of graphene batteries in the comment section below!