Graphene batteries: Introduction and Market News - Page 10

NASA's SABERS (Solid-state Architecture Batteries for Enhanced Rechargeability and Safety) project, which has been going on for a few years under NASA’s “high risk, high reward” research program, aims to develop batteries with improved power density (preferably ones that could make electric flight feasible, which required around 480 watt-hour per kilogram).

Work taking place at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, by an engineering team lead by Dr. Rocco Viggiano, is aiming to produce batteries that are powerful, light, fast to charge, scalable to any application, and extremely safe. The scientists are doing so by getting rid of the toxic and dangerous materials that make current batteries too inefficient and risky to put in a plane, for example. 

Researchers from the Rice University lab of chemist James Tour have reconfigured their "Flash Graphene" process to regenerate graphite anode materials found in lithium-ion batteries, removing impurities so they can be used again and again.

Flashing powdered anodes from commercial batteries recycles some of what the researchers called the “staggering” accumulation of waste they currently leave behind. In just a few seconds, a jolt of high energy decomposes inorganic salts including lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese from an anode. These can be recovered by processing them with dilute hydrochloric acid.

Researchers at South China Normal University, Soochow University, Nanjing Tech University and  Macau University of Science and Technology have reported a new difunctional Li-S battery separator (CC-rGO/AB/PP) derived from a novel synthesis method under extreme pressure to promote more efficient Li-S batteries in a simple way.

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries theoretically have energy capacity far beyond lithium-ion batteries and have thus attracted much attention. However, the actual lifespan and conversion efficiency are significantly reduced by the shuttle effect in which lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) dissolve and penetrate to the anode during discharge and cause internal short-circuit. Although there are techniques to suppress the shuttle effect by the separator, most of them still have to sacrifice other performance indicators, such as the ability of lithium-ion transportation.

Today we published a new edition of our Graphene Batteries Market Report, with all the latest information. The batteries market is extremely active, as demand from EVs and mobile applications increases research and development efforts, and graphene is seen as a potential material to increase capacity, decrease charging times and improve other performance metrics. Indeed the new edition contains over 15 new updates, two new covered companies, new projects, research achievements and more.

Reading this report, you'll learn all about:

• The advantages of using graphene in batteries
• The different ways graphene can be used in batteries
• Various types of graphene materials
• What's on the market today

The report package also provides:

• A list of all graphene companies involved with batteries
• Detailed specifications of graphene-enhanced anode materials
• Personal contact details into most graphene developers
• Free updates for a year

This Graphene Batteries market report provides a great introduction to graphene materials used in the batteries market, and covers everything you need to know about graphene in this niche. This is a great guide for anyone involved with the battery market, nanomaterials, electric vehicles and mobile devices.

Nanotech Energy recently reported a demonstration of its graphene-powered batteries' non-flammable qualities in a new abuse test. A Nanotech Graphene-Powered Lithium-Ion Battery 18650 cell was shot by a 4.5BRA bullet at a speed of 2,917 feet per second. Despite the considerable force of impact, the battery did not catch fire and even still held a charge.

In contrast, the company said that a rival commercial battery 18650 cell shot by a 4.5BRA bullet at a speed of 2,915 feet per second immediately burst into flames and no longer held a charge.

Lyten has announced its first 3D Graphene fabrication facility located at its headquarters in San Jose, CA. Lyten developed Lyten 3D Graphene, a patented library of materials that has enabled the company to develop various solutions in the fields of energy storage, composite systems, and chemical & passive sensors.

Lyten 3D Graphene is described by the Company as a proprietary, tunable advanced materials platform that is the result of years of technological inventions by Lyten. Lyten 3D Graphene can be infused into many other materials and products to unlock higher-performance applications. For example, infusing Lyten 3D Graphene into polyethylene provides significant improvements in strength. Lyten 3D Graphene is extracted from methane and engineered into forms depending on the application.

Sparc Technologies has announced that it has received strong support from "sophisticated and other professional investors", to raise AUD$3.5 million (over USD$2,247,000) through a placement to accelerate its hydrogen pilot plant and graphene R&D programs.

Proceeds from the placement will be used by Sparc Technologies for costs associated with scoping the acceleration of the pilot plant which will validate the commercial potential of its green hydrogen technology and production process. It will also be used for R&D programs to support development of graphene products.

Zentek recently announced the start of a 4-year, CAD$1,600,000 (around USD$1,172,000) research project in collaboration with Professors Mohini Sain and Ning Yan from the University of Toronto (“U of T”) and Ford Powertrain Engineering Research and Development Centre (“PERDC”).

Funding for the project includes CAD$1.2 million (around USD$879,000) from the Mitacs Accelerate program. Prof. Sain is the Endowed Ford Motor Canada Chair in Sustainable Materials where he is active in the field of light energy storage including cell chemistry and renewable fuel battery development at PERDC, and Prof. Yan is the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Bioproducts. Collaborating with the PERDC and testing at this facility is essential to demonstrate battery advances at a scale suitable for the automotive industry. 

Nanotech Energy Europe, a fully owned subsidiary of Nanotech Energy, has announced it has signed a purchase agreement to supply 1+ GWh size BESS (battery energy storage systems), based on graphene technology, through 2028 to Smile Energy in Athens, Greece.

Nanotech stated that the partnership with Smile Energy will allow the immediate expansion of Nanotech's energy storage business to a region which has committed to developing the world's preeminent solar infrastructure. Together, Nanotech and Smile will play a role in supporting Greece and the surrounding region to take the next steps to ensure stability of infrastructure and continuity of energy supply.

Researchers from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Henan Agricultural University have designed two-dimensional (2D) Mn₃O₄ nanosheets with dominant crystal planes on graphene (Mn₃O₄ NS/G) as efficient oxygen catalysts for Li-O₂ batteries, achieving ultrahigh capacity and long-term stability.

The team explained that designing oxygen catalysts with well-defined shapes and high-activity crystal facets can effectively regulate the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at the three-phase interfaces, but it is still remains challenging. The researchers reported that the Mn₃O₄ NS/G with the (101) facets and enriched oxygen vacancies offered a lower charge overpotential of 0.86 V than that of Mn₃O₄ nanoparticles on graphene (1.15 V).