powerwall lifepo4 battery for solar system.Will graphene be a breakthrough for lithium battery materials? What are the current problems encountered by lithium-ion batteries?

release time:2023-10-18 Hits: Popular:AG11 battery

Graphene lithium batteries emerge

Graphene has a unique two-dimensional structure, excellent performance and various potential application values. Graphene-based nanomaterials are an attractive electrode material for lithium-ion batteries, especially for high-energy-density and high-power-density batteries. The graphene battery is a new battery developed by utilizing the characteristics of lithium ions that shuttle rapidly and massively between the graphene surface and the electrode.

Interestingly, in addition to Zhejiang Alian Nano Technology Co., Ltd.’s investment in building a graphene base, Yulong Co., Ltd. also recently announced an increase in investment in graphene production. It is reported that Yulong Co., Ltd. will increase its investment by RMB 300 million in Ningxia Hanyao Graphene Energy Storage Material Technology Co., Ltd., which will be mainly used to speed up the construction and production of Ningxia Hanyao lithium-ion battery graphene ternary cathode material and conductive slurry project production line. Drive production capacity and release to promote the development of new business.
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The layout of graphene lithium-ion batteries by relevant manufacturers in the lithium battery industry chain may accelerate the emergence of graphene lithium-ion batteries.

Graphene is an important option for high energy density batteries

In the context of national policies leading the development of lithium batteries towards high energy density, graphene materials are a good candidate for the next generation of battery materials. Graphene has always been considered a representative material among the new generation of materials. Graphene peeled from graphite is a thin film of carbon atoms, which is characterized by high physical and chemical stability. The material is 100 times more conductive than copper and more than 140 times faster than silicon. This is why graphene ball batteries charge five times faster than existing rechargeable batteries. With its excellent material properties, graphene is favored by research institutions and lithium battery companies.

At the beginning of this year, we learned from the website of the Ministry of Science and Technology that South Korea’s "Central Daily News" reported that a research team at Samsung Electronics Institute of Technology successfully developed a new battery material "graphene balls" that have a charging capacity 45% higher than existing lithium-ion batteries. The speed is increased by more than 5 times. Researchers have discovered that after adding silica to the high-strength, highly conductive graphene material, graphene can be synthesized in large quantities. The synthesized graphene exhibits a three-dimensional shape like popcorn, so it is called "graphene ball" , using this graphene ball material as anode protective film and cathode material for lithium-ion batteries can increase charging capacity, shorten charging time, and ensure high-temperature stability. South Korea plans to commercialize "graphene ball" lithium electronic batteries within five years.

At the end of March this year, the graphene new energy industrialization project settled in Yinchuan Economic and Technological Development Zone plans to invest 8.5 billion yuan to implement projects with an annual output of 30,000 tons of graphene-modified ternary materials and 10,000 tons of graphene conductive slurry. 5 projects, after completion, can form a basic industrial chain of graphene energy storage materials in Yinchuan City, and form an annual output value of more than 15 billion yuan.

Not long ago, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States has successfully developed a flexible photovoltaic panel with a graphene nanolayer on the surface, which can greatly reduce the cost of manufacturing transparent deformable solar cells. This kind of battery may be used in night vision goggles, Used in cameras and other small digital devices.

Although graphene batteries are favored by many manufacturers and investors, there are also objections. First of all, the cost and process complexity are high. Some scholars believe that graphene batteries may only exist in laboratories, and commercialization is still relatively difficult. Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the well-known graphene industry manufacturer Vorbeck have disclosed the research results of graphene. They believe that the reproducibility of graphene work is often very poor, and the technology developed is seriously out of touch with practical goals. This phenomenon has been widely criticized by knowledgeable people in the scientific research community and the industry.

Materials are one of the three pillars of modern civilization. The discovery of new materials and their cross-field applications play a vital role in the development of science and technology. The battery industry has evolved from traditional lithium batteries to later cobalt-lithium batteries, to today's high-nickel batteries. Graphene may be a breakthrough for the next generation of materials for power batteries. The development of battery technology is also promoting the iteration of various electronic terminal products.

A collaborative project led by the University of Tsukuba in Japan, where Zhou Enlai once studied, discovered a method to optimize hydrogen evolution catalysts that can improve their stability without significantly sacrificing catalytic activity. The research team found that coating catalyst nanoparticles with graphene can improve the durability of the catalyst. The results were published in ACS.

The researchers said, "We optimized the balance between the number of graphene-coated nanoparticles and their catalytic activity. To do this, we had to precisely control the number of graphene-coated nanoparticles. This was achieved by This is achieved by carefully adjusting the deposition time of graphene on the nanoparticles."

The team prepared and characterized a series of nanoparticle samples coated with different numbers of graphene layers and then determined their catalytic activity in the hydrogen evolution reaction. Catalyst nanoparticles coated with an optimal number of graphene layers, which were only three to five layers, showed similar activity to expensive platinum-based catalysts in the hydrogen evolution reaction. Importantly, these nanoparticles also showed high stability; the graphene coating prevented the metal nanoparticles from dissolving in the acidic reaction solution.

The researchers performed theoretical calculations to support their experimental results. The results confirmed the relationship between the number of graphene layers, chemical stability and the catalytic activity of the nanoparticles. That is, nanoparticles coated with fewer than three graphene layers had higher catalytic activity than catalysts coated with three to five layers, but this came at the expense of durability; the former performed worse than the latter chemical stability.

"Our findings pave the way for stable and inexpensive catalysts for large-scale hydrogen production at hydrogen stations through on-site polymer electrolyte membrane electrolysis under acidic conditions." The group's findings are beneficial to the industrialization of hydrogen fuel clean energy .

Graphene is currently the thinnest and hardest nanomaterial. It combines many excellent properties such as good light transmittance, high thermal conductivity, high electron mobility, low resistivity, and high mechanical strength. It is the super material that will dominate future high-tech competition. Materials, known as "black gold", can greatly promote the rapid development and upgrading of related industries. They have broad market prospects and are expected to spawn industries worth hundreds of billions of yuan.

Due to the limitations of the silicon material itself, the development speed of computers, chips or electronic devices can no longer comply with Moore's Law, and performance improvement has slowed down. Electrons in graphene run almost unimpeded and run at several times the speed of silicon, making it possible to break this bottleneck. Coupled with the rise of intelligence, big data, cloud computing, and wearable equipment, there is an urgent need for high-speed computers, efficient energy conversion and storage systems, and flexible electronics. Graphene can play a decisive role in these fields, which heralds the development of global science and technology. We will move from the silicon era in the past to the carbon era represented by carbon materials such as graphene.

After the advent of graphene, developed countries such as the United States, Japan, and the European Union have begun to deploy graphene research and development plans from a national strategic level, investing billions of dollars to support graphene research and commercialization. Multinational groups such as Samsung Electronics, IBM, Nokia, Dow Chemical, General Motors, Xerox, Bayer, and BASF are also targeting the graphene market and actively promoting graphene industrialization research.

China is a country with large graphite resources and one of the most active countries in graphene research and application development. The next ten years will be a critical period for graphene to move from the laboratory to application. Following the inclusion of graphene as an important cutting-edge new material in national strategic documents such as "Made in China 2025" and "Implementation Plan for Key Materials Upgrading Projects", the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Science and Technology jointly released the " "Several Opinions on Accelerating the Innovative Development of the Graphene Industry" to promote the process of graphene industrialization and lead the development direction of graphene industrialization.

Graphene is an industry that opens up the future and an opportunity for the development of my country's new materials industry. Its industrialization process is also a process of testing and improving my country's comprehensive scientific and technological strength. Based on the study of the development of the graphene industry at home and abroad, policy recommendations for the development of the graphene industry are put forward: protect intellectual property rights to promote the implementation of public platform results, strengthen talent training to consolidate the comprehensive scientific and technological foundation, encourage the introduction of private capital to develop the graphene industry, and provide guidance on the development of graphene industry in my country. Four main paths are envisioned for the development of the graphene industry.

Path 1: Drive and promote major projects

Through the guidance of government policies, focusing on the major needs of my country's economic and social development and national security, we will integrate resources such as innovation and industrialization, seize key points, implement a number of major projects, and develop a number of key products and representative processes that are iconic and have strong traction and promotion effects. , Improve independent development and design level and system integration capabilities. Make breakthroughs in key core components, key technologies and system integration processes such as graphene transistors, graphene electrodes, graphene chips, graphene optoelectronic devices, graphene high-frequency devices, graphene laser devices, etc., and break through common key technologies and engineering and industrialization Bottlenecks, improve graphene innovation, industrialization capabilities and international competitiveness, drive the development of the overall comprehensive strength of the materials industry, and seize the commanding heights of international competition.

Path Two: Application Demonstration in Key Industries

Adhere to the combination of national graphene development and industry-specific guidance, make overall plans, integrate resources, make reasonable arrangements, and clarify the general direction of graphene development. Encourage innovation among all people, guide the transformation of innovation results, solidly improve the level of basic scientific theory, promote the in-depth development of various industries, summarize and accumulate industrialization experience, accelerate the improvement of the overall level of graphene application, carry out application demonstration work in key industries, in the medical field, chemistry Create key demonstration projects in various fields such as the field of energy, nanometers, and electronics.

Path Three: Collaborative Promotion of Industry, University, Research and Application

Industry, academia and research use multiple channels to collaboratively promote the industrialization process of graphene. Through the cooperation of production units, schools, scientific research institutions and users, they pool their respective advantageous resources to form an efficient system integrating research, development, production and application. During the operation process Give full play to comprehensive advantages, improve the overall efficiency of the industrial chain from experimental results to practical applications, and reduce conversion costs. Establish upstream graphene production enterprises, including graphene mining enterprises, graphene production equipment CVD and other equipment manufacturing enterprises, downstream application enterprises, including electronic enterprises, battery enterprises, biomedical enterprises, special aerospace enterprises, etc., and scientific research institutions such as universities and research institutes. industrial alliances, technological innovation alliances, etc. Refining common technologies, strengthening public technical services for graphene, reducing the costs of time, capital, technology, technology, equipment, talent, etc. in the process of graphene industrialization, and providing a high-standard and high-quality starting point and cooperation channel for alliance units.

Path 4: Aggregation development of innovation platforms

Improve the construction of the national graphene innovation system, strengthen top-level design, accelerate the establishment of a graphene innovation network with the innovation center as the core carrier and supported by the public service platform and application industry data center, and establish a market-led innovation and application direction selection mechanism and a risk-sharing and benefit-sharing mechanism that encourages innovation. Establish graphene innovation industrial parks and bases, and introduce scientific and technological achievement transformation incubators and technology industrialization accelerators. Utilize local talents, resources, funds and other advantages to develop industrial clusters, gather emerging industries, exert the industrial agglomeration effect, and accelerate graphene innovation and application breakthroughs and industrialization process. Build a number of public service platforms to promote collaborative innovation and industrialization of graphene, standardize industry standards, carry out professional services such as technology research and development, technology evaluation, technology transactions, inspection and testing, quality certification, talent training, etc., and improve the efficiency of transformation and promotion of scientific and technological achievements. Application speed.