Graphene for Automotive - Page 20

Henrik Fisker, owner of failed automotive venture "Fisker Automotive", said recently that he plans to launch a new electric car company next year to compete with Tesla. According to Fisker, the new electric cars will be powered by a long-range battery that uses graphene to extend its range and life and reduce charging time. The company is targeting a 400-mile driving range between charges.

It was not revealed who is funding this new California-based venture, called Fisker Inc, and a new battery subsidiary, Fisker Nanotech. In an interview, Fisker said his new company plans a battery-powered model aimed at the Tesla Model S, which is priced at about $65,000. He did not specify when production would begin. A second smaller Fisker electric car will follow, Fisker said, and will target the upcoming Tesla Model 3, which is expected to start at about $35,000.

Group NanoXplore, a Canadian company specializing in the production and application of graphene and its derivative materials, has announced that Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) will partner with the company to support the commercialization of lighter, more reliable and higher-efficiency components for electric motor systems using graphene-enhanced engineering plastics in place of metals. The total value of the project is $10.4 million.

Replacing metals with plastics will require innovative polymers with unique thermal, electrical, and strength characteristics. NanoXplore has developed and is providing customers with graphene-enhanced polymers with enhanced electrical, thermal and mechanical properties. By adding trace amounts of graphene to carefully-selected polymers, engineering plastics can be tailored to improve electric motors and the systems they are used in.

Lomiko Metals has announced that it will be presenting a summary of the Graphene Energy Storage Devices Corp. (GESD) Graphene Supercapacitor Project at the Battery Material Conference in Toronto September 2016.

GESD is currently working on scale-up of the technology and an in-field evaluation of the energy storage unit with Stony Brook University. The GESD-SBU team demonstrated design and implementation of a sealed high-voltage EDLCs energy storage unit. The unit is internally balanced, there is no need for an external circuit. The electrode is very cost-effective nano-carbon composite either of a commercial carbon or of graphene platelets with carbon nanotubes. The nano-carbon electrode materials were used for deposition and assembly of a working prototype of an internally balanced high-voltage energy storage unit. The bench-top prototype unit, tested up to 10 V, exhibited good discharge characteristics and charge retention. This development enables new compact energy storage solutions for grid and vehicular applications.

A trade deal between China and Manchester will aim at graphene-based transportation. Scientists at Manchester University will team up with the Beijing Institute of Aeronautical Materials in a five-year research project that will aim to build graphene-based aircraft and trains.

The Chinese funding, thought to be worth up to £3 million, will be put into the project that will include joint research as well as the exchange of scientists between Beijing and the university’s National Graphene Institute.

A vehicle made with graphene in its bodywork has recently been unveiled in Manchester. The car was made by Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) and graphene is said to be used in the car's panels. The BAC Mono spearheads an exhibition to highlight the future of graphene technology.

The BAC Mono has reportedly been road-tested and is being displayed at the National Graphene Institute in Manchester as part of the Science in the City festival from July 22-29. James Baker, graphene business director at The University of Manchester, said: "The graphene car is an excellent example of how graphene can be incorporated into existing products to improve performance".

The National Graphene Institute (NGI) recently signed a collaborative partnership with Haydale to accelerate the commercialization of applications. Haydale has been working closely with the NGI, and has now entered into a formal partnership which aims to leverage each party’s particular expertise in order to seek opportunities to develop and commercialize graphene products and applications.

This collaboration will likely see the NGI utilizing the Haydale patented process incorporated in its R&D plasma reactor for research into the functionalization of graphene and other nanomaterials. It will also look into the use, process and identification of nanomaterials to enhance performance in composites, sensors, printable inks, supercapacitators, rubbers and elastomers.

SiNode Systems, based at Illinois Institute of Technology’s University Technology Park, develops materials that make batteries last longer and charge faster using graphene. The company has been granted a funding of $4 million from Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler, along with the U.S. Department of Energy, to develop such improved batteries for the electric vehicle market.

Its technology, which commercializes a patented process developed at Northwestern University, can be used in any lithium-ion battery, such as those in cell phones or laptops. Our early focus is smaller markets, the company's CEO said. The electric vehicle market is our long-term focus, and it’s the reason we started this company.

Scientists at The University of Manchester, along with a team at Shandong University, have designed a graphene-based electrical nano-device that could substantially increase the energy efficiency of fossil fuel-powered cars.

The nano-device, known as a 'ballistic rectifier', can convert heat which would otherwise be wasted from the car exhaust and engine body into a usable electrical current. The recovered energy can then be used to power additional automotive features such as air conditioning and power steering, or be stored in the car battery.

XG Sciences has received a DOE Round 2 small business award for $150,000, which it will use to support its efforts to develop low-cost manufacturing of a silicon-graphene composite anode. According to the company, one goal for the new anode type is to reduce the formation of the solid electrolyte interface (SEI).

The SEI layer is a film composed of electrolyte reduction products that start forming on the surface of the anode during the initial battery charge. It functions as an ionic conductor that enables lithium to migrate through the film during charging and discharging allowing the battery to operate in an efficient and reversible manner. Under typical operating conditions, it also serves as an electronic insulator that prevents further electrolyte reduction on the anode. However, as the silicon in next-generation anodes expands and contracts, it essentially cracks apart that layer and then makes more. Over time it ends up with a very thick resistive film on the anode, which causes it to lose both capacity and power.

The European NanoMaster project (a EC Seventh Framework funded project which started on December 2011 and includes a total of 14 partners, including AIMPLAS), has developed improved graphene, nanographite and expanded graphite masterbatches (or concentrates), offering the chance to use these particles in the conventional industry of plastics processing, as well as in additive manufacturing processes, such as 3D printing and laser sintering.

The particles can be used in injection and extrusion conventional processes and AM (powders for SLS and rods for 3D printing) to produce parts for cars, toys and electronic devices. While there is still a long way to go, NANOMASTER has provided valuable information regarding the behavior of these materials. The processing conditions have been optimized in each one of the manufacturing stages, with the collaboration of multinational companies, such as ROCHLING, PHILIPS and LEGO, who have developed parts for sectors such as toys, electrical- electronic and automotive industries. AIMPLAS has also developed materials for the new manufacturing technologies: rods for 3D printing and powder for laser sintering.