KAIST - Page 2

Researchers from Korea's KAIST institute developed a lithium-air rechargeable battery using a nano fiber graphene composite catalyst. This battery has five times greater storage compared to current lithium-ion batteries, and is the highest performing lithium-air battery ever developed. Such batteries may enable electric vehicle to travel almost a 1,000 kilometers on a single charge.

Lithium-Air battery uses lithium on the cathode and oxygen on the anode. Such batteries has been researched for a long time as they are cheap to make and are lighter than lithium-ion batteries. But they are difficult to commercialize because they suffer from short lifespan (because of high resistance during the charge-discharge process). This new battery has a new catalyst made by mixing cobalt oxide nano fiber and graphene. This not just increased the storage, but also resulted in good lifespan - over 80 recharge cycles with capacity greater than 100mAh/g.

Researchers from Korea's KAIST institute used graphene to make metals hundreds of times stronger. The researchers developed a composite graphene-copper material that is 500 times stronger than pure copper and a graphene-nickel one that is 180 times stronger than nickel.

The researchers created a layered structure of graphene and metal. Using CVD they grew a single graphene layer on a metal substrate and then deposited the second metal layer on top. This is the first time such a design has been produced using a single graphene sheet. The researchers explain that the graphene blocks the dislocations and cracks from external damage to travel into the material.

Scientists from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) say they have developed a new technology to separate graphene from the metal substrate it has been synthesized on. The new method is cheap and environmental friendly as it does not harm the metal which can be reused infinitely.

Scientists from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) say they have developed a new supercapacitor based on nitrogen and graphene. The new device has double the energy storage capacity of conventional capacitors. They say that the key technology here is doping the graphene with Nitrogen.

The team tested the capacitor and said that it showed no change in its capabilities even after 230,000 charge/discharge cycles.

Researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) say that Graphene can be used to create bendable batteries. The researchers developed a graphene-based hybrid electrode and produced a flexible lithium rechargeable battery. The cathode material (V₂O₅) was grown on a graphene sheet using pulsed laser reposition and the anode was lithium-coated graphene.

This battery actually has promising performance compared to non-flexible batteries - higher energy density, power density and better cycle life. The team now works on extending the performance using solid-state or polymer electrolyte. They also believe that this technology can be used not just in batteries but also in solar cells, OLED displays and catalysis.