What are graphene batteries

Perhaps in the very near future, the hegemony of lithium-ion batteries will come to an end, because a new type of battery is entering the scene - graphene. So let's take a closer look at graphene batteries, and find out what properties they have and why they are so good.

What is graphene

First, let's say a few words about a material like graphene. This material was artificially obtained back in 2004 by Russian scientists and is a film-like structure formed from carbon atoms.

Simply put, graphene is the plane of graphite, separated from the general structure of the material. In this case, the atoms are arranged, so that a hexagonal crystal lattice is formed.

At the same time, the formed substance is so dense that it has an increased degree of rigidity and a colossal margin of thermal conductivity.

In this case, electrons can freely move over the structure of the film, which opens up broad prospects for the introduction of a new material into semiconductor circuits.

Graphene and batteries

The first area where it was decided to use graphene is in the production of car batteries.

In the first experiments, graphene was combined with lithium, but as practice has shown, this turned out to be the wrong decision. This is because lithium is an extremely aggressive substance, and lithium explodes upon contact with water.

Therefore, they refused to install such modifications of batteries on electric vehicles, because in the event of an accident and damage to the battery there was a very high probability of fire.

Also, for the production of such batteries, a large amount of lithium was needed, and this is an expensive metal.

Therefore, it was decided to look for an alternative to lithium and two options were found at once:

1. American model. According to her, the source of the reaction is already cobalt-lithium and a composite cathode of silicon and graphene plates.

2. Russian model. Where magnesium-graphene modification is used, where the lithium salt anode has been successfully replaced with magnesium oxide (a much more common and cheaper substance).

But despite different approaches, the advantages and disadvantages of graphene batteries are identical.

Pros and cons of graphene batteries

If we compare classic lithium-ion batteries with graphene, the latter are endowed with the following advantages:

- Graphene is produced from readily available and cheap raw materials.

- The material produced is very light. So one square meter of graphene weighs only 1 gram, and this allows you to significantly reduce the mass of the battery.

- Environmentalists can sleep well as graphene is environmentally friendly.

- Graphene has increased strength and water resistance.

- Damaged surface areas are easily restored.

- The conductivity of graphene is significantly higher than that of any other conductor (of course, at the moment).

- Increased specific capacity. For example, a car with a graphene battery installed is capable of driving up to 1,000 kilometers on a single charge. kilometers.

- The capacity of graphene batteries does not decrease due to frequent discharge-charge cycles.

- Full charging time is only 8 minutes.

As you can see, the advantages are just a wagon and a small cart, but there are also disadvantages, namely:

- Graphene has a rather low density, so there are still significant restrictions on its use. For example, a cell phone with a graphene battery would be oversized.

How a graphene battery works

In fact, the structure of a graphene battery is not much different from the structure of a lithium-ion battery with a solid electrolyte. The only thing is that in the case of graphene, the cathode is made of coal coke, due to the fact that its chemical. the composition is close to pure carbon, and graphite is replaced by graphene.

In order to increase the capacity of the battery, the engineers added sections of silicon between the graphene layers. And to increase the charging rate, small holes 15-20 nanometers in diameter were made in the graphene plates.

That's all, otherwise it is a regular battery.

Conclusion

Without a doubt, graphene batteries will still find their niche and it is quite possible that they will completely replace lithium-ion batteries from their pedestal, but until they enter the wide market, it is too early to talk about this. Well, if you liked the article, then put your thumbs up and subscribe. And even more interesting and useful you can find on my site, where the articles are published somewhat earlier.