Graphene Nanotubes: The Latest Advancement in Li-ion Batteries ...

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From Design News:

http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1386&doc_id=264822&itc=dn_analysis_element&dfpPParams=ind_184,industry_alt,aid_264822&dfpLayout=blog


The use of graphene seems to be emerging as one of the ways forward for new lithium-ion battery designs. If you remember, SiNode Systems is working with anodes that use graphene to build a high-capacity, high-performance lithium-ion battery. It turns out Rice University researchers also are experimenting with graphene -- in the form of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) -- to achieve a similar effect.

A Rice research team -- including chemistry, engineering, and computer science professor James Tour and postdoctoral research Jian Lin -- has successfully created proof-of-concept anodes that are capable of more capacity than typical battery anodes by creating them out of GNRs and tin oxide. Typical lithium-ion battery anodes, or the part of the battery that stores lithium ions, are made primarily of tin oxide and graphite.

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Researchers at Rice University have used a method they developed for unzipping carbon nanotubes and turning them into graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) (shown here) to create better anodes for lithium-ion batteries.
(Source: Rice University)

After 50 charge-discharge cycles, the test anodes created by the team maintained a capacity that was still more than double that of the graphite currently used for lithium-ion battery anodes, researchers said. This extended life could pave the way for numerous commercial applications of this type of battery design in devices as well as electric vehicles, they said. The team published its findings in a recent article in the chemistry journal ACS Nano ...

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