Graphene: Advancing Li-Ion Batteries

摘要

Ever since Global Graphene Group's discovery of isolated graphene in 2002, a new class of nano carbon materials, graphene's outstanding physical properties have attracted a large amount of attention. Global Graphene Group's research team has been working to develop processes for mass-producing both single-layer and multi-layer graphene and their composites, and to investigate a variety of applications of graphene materials in energy storage and conversion. In this poster, we will show how graphene can improve the performances of a specific component in lithium ion batteries in terms of energy density, rate capability or cycle life.Our graphene silicon composite anode material demonstrates that flexible graphene sheets surrounding the Si nanoparticles are capable of cushioning the stress/strain to some extent. Meanwhile, with certain special treatment, the first cycle columbic efficiency reaches >89%. Both great improvements realized silicon anode as a practical choice for a Li-ion battery of higher energy density. We will also show and discuss how a graphene coating layer prevents corrosion of aluminum current collector along cycling across different combinations of Li salts and organic solvents in a range of voltages. Besides Li-ion batteries, we have placed effort and resources into the development and investigation of next generation advanced lithium battery systems, such as Li-Metal and Li-S batteries. Our current achievements, (ⅰ) utilizing an ultra-thin graphene composite protective layer to enhance performances of Li-Metal anode, and (ⅱ) graphene sulfur composite cathode with greatly improved cycle life, will also be shown in this poster.