Graphene batteries: Introduction and Market News - Page 41

A team of researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research presents a promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries, by incorporating unique 3D cobalt oxide microstructures into a reduced graphene oxide composite.

Metal oxides present a potential alternative to conventional graphite anodes and Li alloys. Cobalt oxide (CoO) has particularly promising properties, namely a high specific capacity and excellent cycling stability against lithium. However, particle aggregation and volume expansion have thus far restricted its candidacy as an appropriate anode material. Merging CoO into a graphene hydrogel, which acts as a mechanically stable 3D support, the researchers eliminate the problem of volume expansion. Furthermore, the completely interconnected hybrid material presents improved conductivity.

Graphene 3D Lab has launched ShareStation3D, a new web portal and free online marketplace that will allow users to download, share and print functional projects at no cost. The website already features several projects that can be made with Graphene 3D’s special conductive filaments, such as Arduino components, solar lights and battery housings, and unlike other 3D printing marketplaces, it supplies ready-to-print 3D files as well as full instructions, parts and supply lists and even free software in order to truly make functional 3D printing projects accessible to the home hobbyist.

ShareStaton 3D.com was developed and underwritten by Graphene 3D Lab, makers of functional and specialty 3D filaments. The company states that until now, most home 3D printers have been limited to one type of print material likely polymer and owners are limited to projects that are static like cupholders, models, or jewelry.  Using functional or specialty filaments allow users to print working projects, dramatically expanding what can be accomplished with a 3D printer.

In June 2015, researchers at the SAIT (Samsung's Advanced Institute of Technology) found a way to prolong the life of the standard lithium-ion batteries by using a new silicon cathode material "coded with high-crystalline graphene". Recent talk around the web suggests that this discovery may find its way to Samsung's Galaxy S7 and grant it a 5-day battery. 

While the research is indeed impressive, and will hopefully be integrated in actual products in the future, it is important to say that we have no real indication that Samsung is close to commercializing their findings. Since the S7 is not scheduled for release until March 2016, there's still time for surprises...

Researchers at Stanford University in California have developed a new material comprising interspersed layers of graphene and phosphorene that has been shown to be a more stable, more conductive and higher capacity anode for sodium ion batteries than previous materials. The researchers believe it could be industrially compatible, and potentially allow sodium ion batteries to become useful for large-scale energy storage.

The graphene layers provide an elastic buffer and function as an electrical highway, allowing charge to get in and out faster. The phosphorene and graphene were both produced by scalable liquid exfoliation, and the sandwich structure self-assembled when suspensions of the two components were mixed and the solvent was evaporated.

In a research funded by a U.S. Department of Defense-Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative grant and Wenzhou Medical University, an international team of scientists has developed what is referred to as the first one-step process for making seamless carbon-based nanomaterials that possess superior thermal, electrical and mechanical properties in 3D. The research may hold potential for increased energy storage in high efficiency batteries and supercapacitors, increasing the efficiency of energy conversion in solar cells, for lightweight thermal coatings and more. 

The group's early testing showed that a 3D fiber-like supercapacitor made with uninterrupted fibers of carbon nanotubes and graphene matched or even surpassed bettered the reported record-high capacities for such devices. When tested as a counter electrode in a dye-sensitized solar cell, the material enabled the cell to convert power with up to 6.8% efficiency and more than doubled the performance of a similar cell that used an expensive platinum wire counter electrode. 

A few weeks ago we reported on a new IDTechEx market report, in which they predict that the graphene market will reach nearly $200 million by 2026, with the estimation that the largest sectors will be composites, energy applications and graphene coatings.

We were very interested in learning more, and Dr Khasha Ghaffarzadeh, IDTechEx's head of consulting was kind enough to answer a few questions and explain the company's view on the graphene market.

Q: IDTechEx has been following graphene for a long time with dedicated events and reports. Why is this new material interesting for IDTechEx?

We have a long track record of analyzing emerging advanced materials such as quantum dots, CNTs, Ag nanostructures, silicon nanostructures, OLED materials, etc. We were however pulled into the world of graphene by our clients’ questions. Once in, we soon realized that there is a big synergy between graphene and our events. in fact, our events on supercapacitors and printed electronics were the right near-term addressable market for graphene, and that is why we managed to rapidly build up the largest business-focused event on graphene. Our events on graphene are held in the USA and Europe each year see www.IDTechEx.com/usa.

The technology is expected to be of great interest to the energy industry and is part of what is known as "hydrogen economy", an alternative energetic model in which energy is stored as hydrogen. In this regard, the materials (patented by the UJI) allow catalysing reactions for obtaining hydrogen from alcohols and may also serve as storage systems of this gas.

Scientists at James Cook University in Queensland, Australia, and collaborators from institutions in Australia, Singapore, Japan, and the US have developed a new technique for growing graphene from tea tree extract. Graphene is only made of carbon atoms, so theoretically can be grown from any carbon source, but scientists are still looking for a graphene precursor and growth method that is sustainable, scalable, and economically feasible, since these are all requirements for realizing widespread commercialization of graphene-based devices.

In this study, the researchers have grown graphene from the tea tree plant Melaleuca alternifolia, a plant used to make essential oils in traditional medicine. They demonstrated that it is possible to fabricate large-area, nearly defect-free graphene films from tea tree oil in as little as a few seconds to a few minutes, whereas current growth methods usually take several hours. Unlike current methods, the new method also works at relatively low temperatures, does not require catalysts, and does not rely on methane or other nonrenewable, toxic, or explosive precursors.

Researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University in the UK, funded by £500,000 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, are striving to use graphene inks to print intricate 3D structures, in hopes to increase the charge storage of batteries and supercapacitors that they create. 

The scientists are involved in a project, meant to run about three and a half years, to create graphene-based energy storage systems. They are trying to achieve a conductive ink that blends the extraordinary properties of graphene with the ease of use of 3D printing to be manipulated into a structure that’s beneficial for batteries and supercapacitors.

Researchers at the University of Wollongong's Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials designed a graphene-based flexible, foldable, and lightweight energy storage device for use in next-gen wearable technology and also as a potential device for medical implants, like pacemakers.

The scientists devised a 3D structure:  liquid graphene was mixed with a polymer and the combination was then solidified to form the carbon nanotubes. The resulting structure was made-up of three parts: graphene, a conductive polymer, and carbon nanotubes. These three parts take the form of single atom-thick networks, resembling carbon formed cylinders. The novel design is efficient because by separating out the layers of carbon, researchers are able to use both surfaces in the structure for charge accumulation. The scientists expect this design to lead to ultra-fast and efficient battery devices.