Graphene Batteries and Technology Fully Explained
Battery materials developed by the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Vorbeck Materials Corp. of Jessup, Md., are enabling power tools and other devices that use lithium-ion batteries to recharge in just minutes rather than hours. In addition, graphene battery technology promises increased capacity through the use of silicon anodes instead of carbon for new lithium-ion battery solutions.
Additionally, several manufacturers, like Positec (who manufactures Worx, Rockwell, and Kress), already use some graphene battery technology in select portable power tools.
What is Graphene?
Graphene exists as a single layer of carbon atoms. These atoms are arranged in an organized hexagonal pattern. Graphene lives as almost a “two-dimensional” material with some unique physical and chemical properties that give it several advantages, These include high electrical conductivity, excellent mechanical strength, and high thermal conductivity.
In fact, graphene is 100X more effective at conducting electricity than copper! It also passes electrons at up to 140X faster than silicon. This is what makes graphene material so important in discovering how to charge batteries more quickly.
Manufacturers (and scientists) consider graphene a promising material for a wide range of applications. Based on both research and how we see it used today, it could play a very important role in electronics, energy storage, and composites. Given the unique properties of graphene, it actually has the potential to revolutionize energy storage and the power density available in the best power tools.
Who Invented Graphene Batteries?
The invention of graphene batteries started with the discovery of how to acquire graphene in a single-atom form. That is usually attributed to a team of researchers from the University of Manchester, UK. The team, led by Nobel Prize winners Sir Andre Geim and Russian-British physicist Konstantin Novoselov discovered some interesting attributes of graphene in 2004.
During one of Andre and Kostya’s weekly “Friday night experiments”, the two scientists used sticky tape to remove some flakes from a lump of bulk graphite. Noticing that some flakes were thinner than others, they continued experimenting. By repeatedly separating the graphite fragments, they eventually created flakes measuring just one atom thick! This experiment led to the first instance of graphene being isolated.
Adding Graphene to Lithium-ion Batteries
Vorbeck Materials Corp. collaborated with Ilhan Aksay, professor of chemical and biological engineering at Princeton University. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) demonstrated that small quantities of graphene—an ultra-thin sheet of carbon atoms—can dramatically improve the power and cycling stability of lithium-ion batteries. Plus, it can do this while maintaining high energy storage capacity.
In 2016, Beijing-based Dongxu Optoelectronic Technology debuted its 4800 mAh G-King battery. This laptop-style battery recharged in less than 15 minutes and supported up to 3500 cycles.
Samsung Graphene Ball
In 2017, the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) announced its “graphene ball”. This unique battery material showed a 45% increase in storage capacity coupled with charging speeds up to 5X that of a standard lithium-ion battery.
The new technology promises huge advantages for mobile devices as well as EVs. The EV market makes considerable sense once you realize the graphene ball can hold a stable 60-degree Celsius temperature.
Samsung pioneered methods of synthesizing graphene into a 3D form and then applying it to batteries. It did this using affordable silica (SiO2). They applied this “graphene ball” on both the anode protective layer and cathode materials in lithium-ion batteries.
Are Graphene Batteries Better Than Lithium-ion?
Standard lithium-ion batteries continue to grow in power density, but they haven’t made monumental leaps in reducing charge time. Graphene batteries come with two major advantages over standard lithium-ion:
- They can store larger amounts of energy in the same size package, and
- They can recharge much more quickly thanks to supporting higher electrical conductivity
The way it works is simple—at least in theory. The use of graphene-based batteries is a completely new direction. It gets battery cells to charge more quickly. Lithium-ion batteries work by transferring lithium ions between a cathode and an anode using a liquid electrolyte. That takes a certain amount of time, especially during the recharging phase.
However, improving the cathodes by coating them with graphene allows more ions to transfer. This also increases the speed of transfer.
On top of this, the researchers plan to utilize nanotechnology in another way. The nanotech properties of graphene help produce reusable silicon-based anodes. These enhance a battery’s overall storage capabilities. The graphene battery equation looks like the following:
storage faster recharging cooler, stable operating temperatures
What Graphene Batteries Could Mean for Power Tools
Given that coating anodes and cathodes with nano-sized sheets or balls of graphene results in faster charging, greater power density, and better heat management, the advantages for power tools are numerous. Your high-capacity cordless drill or circular saw battery could recharge in just a few minutes instead of an hour. It could also potentially run for five times as long.
Also, with fast charging times come fast discharging times. That means you can get more power out of a graphene battery more quickly. That has the potential to bring even more powerful corded tools and equipment onto a battery platform more quickly. Power delivery no longer presents as much of a problem.
In addition, you could see such improvement in charging times that the notion of “all-day run-time” expands to larger and larger tools. The Milwaukee MX FUEL line of equipment provides a great example of this potential. With fast-enough charging of batteries, even larger tools can run one pack while another gets topped off. Provided the charge time falls under the expected real-world run-time, you achieve all-day use as a result.
Other Upsides to Using Graphene in Lithium-ion Cells
Researchers are very confident in the capabilities of graphene as a conductive enhancement. In fact, they claim graphene-based cell phone batteries, which currently take between one and five hours to fully recharge, would have their time reduced to under 10 minutes!
The Current State of Graphene Battery Technology
Graphene batteries have already hit the marketplace. CAT-branded power tools claim graphene battery technology that lets them recharge a 5Ah battery in less than 20 minutes. They also boast 4X longer life over lithium-ion as well as cooler operating temperatures. Others are sure to follow, and some may already have released batteries with graphene technology who have not yet marketed it as such.
Graphene Powered Supercapacitors – Curved Graphene
Something very interesting that we see entering the market in various places goes by the name of graphene powered supercapacitors. One company, Skeleton, has several different products already on the market, including their SkelCap series. These curved graphene supercapacitors feature high energy density as well as low internal resistance.
As you can imagine, better energy density means these batteries fit right in with the EV and heavy transportation and industrial markets. In those sectors, both weight and space play key roles in the efficiency of vehicles.
Graphene supercapacitors also generate less heat—even under high-current loads. These graphene supercapacitors feature a curved design that exposes more of the surface area to the electric current. This reduces resistance and improves efficiency.
Lastly, Skeleton claims their graphene-powered supercapacitors have an application lifetime of up to 15 years or more! When we look at EVs and heavy equipment, a lifespan of 15 years starts to really make sense. We expect to see this particular technology show up first in commercial vehicles and some electric vehicles.
Huawei Graphene-Assisted High-Temperature Li-ion Batteries
In 2016, China-based Huawei announced a major breakthrough in its Li-ion battery research. At the 57th Battery Symposium in Japan, they unveiled the world’s first long-lifespan graphene-assisted Li-ion battery able to withstand high temperatures. They claimed, at the time, a reduction of 5 degrees C compared to existing batteries already in the market.
Applied in the field, the real-world environmental gains improved by up to 10 degrees C. Applications include areas where you have both hot climates and frequent power outages (like Africa). EV applications also remain a possibility.
As of 2023, this technology has shown up in the company’s Graphene Film Cooling Technology used to conduct heat away from the battery in cell phones. In this way, Huawei continues to lean mostly on the Rapid heat conductivity properties of graphene as opposed to using it within their actual batteries.
Due to the current blockade of chips to the company, Huawei also plans to begin using graphene in their semiconductors and transistors to create new chip technologies that rival traditional silicon technology. The use of graphene (via carbon nanotube chips) could also potentially speed up communication and drop costs.
Strategic Elements Graphene Oxide Self-Charging Batteries
Strategic Elements is working on a new battery technology that uses liquid ink based on graphene oxide. The process involves coating the graphene oxide ink onto glass. It would supposedly be able to harvest energy from humidity present in the air or skin to self-charge—in just a few minutes. Strategic Elements is working with the University of New South Wales to test and develop the technology. They would target the new graphene oxide battery technology to the diverse market of IOT devices.
A graphene oxide battery with the potential to charge itself from the humidy in the air or on your skin sounds like an amazing leap forward for watches, low-power e-readers, and more. Imagine having no need for manual charging or wires! Learn more here.
GMG Graphene Aluminum-ion Battery
GMG, working with the University of Queensland Research and UniQuest, has under development graphene aluminum-ion battery technology. The new formulation features high energy and power densities compared to current lithium-ion battery technology. It claims up to 3X longer battery life and up to 70X faster charging speeds.
As of June 2022, GMG has already manufactured graphene aluminum-ion batteries in pouch cell format. GMG has plans to construct an initial commercial coin cell Graphene Aluminum-ion (GAI) battery manufacturing facility followed by mass production of parallel pouch cell batteries.
NASA SABERS Solid State Graphene Battery
Not to be outdone, NASA has plans to develop its SABERS solid state graphene battery. SABERS stands for Solid-state Architecture Batteries for Enhanced Rechargeability and Safety. Under development for years at its Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, the NASA SABERS battery aims to allow for applications previously thought impossible—like battery-powered flight.
Making a graphene battery (or any battery for that matter) suitable for flight requires several things. It must have adequate power density—more power in less space. The battery also has to weigh as little as possible. It must be able to discharge quickly and has to scale to any application.
It also needs to be extremely safe since it has to power a vehicle with the potential, to carry hundreds of passengers. That means eliminating any potentially toxic or flammable chemicals. So far, according to reports, SABERS looks on track to present a compelling solution…eventually.
The SABERS solid-state graphene battery currently delivers 500 Watt-hours per kilogram. That comes in about twice the energy density of even the best battery technology used in current EVs. The regional target for flight falls around 480 Watt-hours. Learn more here.
The Future of Graphene Batteries
As for the future of graphene-based nanotechnology, it remains a complicated and expensive process. With further research and economy of scale, it should make cordless power tools run longer. It should also let manufacturers pack a lot more power into a smaller package. Between that, cooler operating temperatures, and faster charging—graphene battery technology could revolutionize cordless tools, EVs, and heavy equipment within the next 5-10 years.
Rather than choose a direction graphene battery technology is likely to take, we imagine it will hit all areas. That includes solid state, use in cooling technology, curved solutions for speeding up charging, and full integration into anodes and cathodes. With respect to some of the more advanced announcements we’ve seen, imagine the possibilities. Put a graphene-based battery with twice the power density into an EV and you could get as much as 1000 miles per charge! You would also gain the ability to recharge in the same (or less) time as current vehicles with ~350-mile ranges.
It certainly has our imaginations soaring!
Clint DeBoer
When he’s not playing with the latest power tool, Clint DeBoer enjoys life as a husband, father, and avid reader—especially the Bible. He loves Jesus, has a degree in recording engineering, and has been involved in multimedia and/or online publishing in one form or another since 1992.
Clint’s career has covered nearly the entire realm of audio and video production. After graduating at the top of his class with an Associates Degree in Recording Engineering, he began working for the famed Soundelux studios in 1994, one of the largest post-production companies specializing in audio for feature films television. Working on a myriad of feature films, Clint honed his skills as a dialogue editor, foley editor, and sound designer. Years later, he moved into the expanding area of video editing, where he served as the company’s senior AVID video editor for three years.
Working for such clients as Universal Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, Paramount Home Entertainment, NASA, Universal Studios, Planet Hollywood, SEGA, NASCAR, and others, Clint DeBoer dealt extensively with client management as well as film video editing, color correction, and digital video MPEG compression. He also carries several THX certifications (Technician I and II, THX Video), and is ISF Level II Certified.
After founding the CD Media, Inc. publishing company in 1996, he went on to help start or grow several successful online publications, including Audioholics (as Editor-in-Chief for 12 years), Audiogurus, and AV Gadgets. In 2008, Clint founded Pro Tool Reviews followed by the landscape and outdoor power equipment-focused OPE Reviews in 2017. He also heads up the Pro Tool Innovation Awards, an annual awards program honoring innovative tools and accessories across the trades.
Crediting God and his excellent staff for the success of what is now the largest power tool review publication in the industry, Clint DeBoer hopes to see continued growth for the company as it rapidly expands its reach. Pro Tool Reviews critically reviews hundreds of hand tools, power tools, and accessories each year to help inform users about the best and newest products in the industry. Reaching everyone from the construction industry professional and tradesman to the serious DIYer, Pro Tool Reviews helps tool consumers shop better, work smarter, and stay aware of what tools and products can help put them at the top of their game.
Graphene Batteries and Technology Fully Explained
Battery materials developed by the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Vorbeck Materials Corp. of Jessup, Md., are enabling power tools and other devices that use lithium-ion batteries to recharge in just minutes rather than hours. In addition, graphene battery technology promises increased capacity through the use of silicon anodes instead of carbon for new lithium-ion battery solutions.
Additionally, several manufacturers, like Positec (who manufactures Worx, Rockwell, and Kress), already use some graphene battery technology in select portable power tools.
What is Graphene?
Graphene exists as a single layer of carbon atoms. These atoms are arranged in an organized hexagonal pattern. Graphene lives as almost a “two-dimensional” material with some unique physical and chemical properties that give it several advantages, These include high electrical conductivity, excellent mechanical strength, and high thermal conductivity.
In fact, graphene is 100X more effective at conducting electricity than copper! It also passes electrons at up to 140X faster than silicon. This is what makes graphene material so important in discovering how to charge batteries more quickly.
Manufacturers (and scientists) consider graphene a promising material for a wide range of applications. Based on both research and how we see it used today, it could play a very important role in electronics, energy storage, and composites. Given the unique properties of graphene, it actually has the potential to revolutionize energy storage and the power density available in the best power tools.
Who Invented Graphene Batteries?
The invention of graphene batteries started with the discovery of how to acquire graphene in a single-atom form. That is usually attributed to a team of researchers from the University of Manchester, UK. The team, led by Nobel Prize winners Sir Andre Geim and Russian-British physicist Konstantin Novoselov discovered some interesting attributes of graphene in 2004.
During one of Andre and Kostya’s weekly “Friday night experiments”, the two scientists used sticky tape to remove some flakes from a lump of bulk graphite. Noticing that some flakes were thinner than others, they continued experimenting. By repeatedly separating the graphite fragments, they eventually created flakes measuring just one atom thick! This experiment led to the first instance of graphene being isolated.
Adding Graphene to Lithium-ion Batteries
Vorbeck Materials Corp. collaborated with Ilhan Aksay, professor of chemical and biological engineering at Princeton University. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) demonstrated that small quantities of graphene—an ultra-thin sheet of carbon atoms—can dramatically improve the power and cycling stability of lithium-ion batteries. Plus, it can do this while maintaining high energy storage capacity.
In 2016, Beijing-based Dongxu Optoelectronic Technology debuted its 4800 mAh G-King battery. This laptop-style battery recharged in less than 15 minutes and supported up to 3500 cycles.
Samsung Graphene Ball
In 2017, the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) announced its “graphene ball”. This unique battery material showed a 45% increase in storage capacity coupled with charging speeds up to 5X that of a standard lithium-ion battery.
The new technology promises huge advantages for mobile devices as well as EVs. The EV market makes considerable sense once you realize the graphene ball can hold a stable 60-degree Celsius temperature.
Samsung pioneered methods of synthesizing graphene into a 3D form and then applying it to batteries. It did this using affordable silica (SiO2). They applied this “graphene ball” on both the anode protective layer and cathode materials in lithium-ion batteries.
Are Graphene Batteries Better Than Lithium-ion?
Standard lithium-ion batteries continue to grow in power density, but they haven’t made monumental leaps in reducing charge time. Graphene batteries come with two major advantages over standard lithium-ion:
- They can store larger amounts of energy in the same size package, and
- They can recharge much more quickly thanks to supporting higher electrical conductivity
The way it works is simple—at least in theory. The use of graphene-based batteries is a completely new direction. It gets battery cells to charge more quickly. Lithium-ion batteries work by transferring lithium ions between a cathode and an anode using a liquid electrolyte. That takes a certain amount of time, especially during the recharging phase.
However, improving the cathodes by coating them with graphene allows more ions to transfer. This also increases the speed of transfer.
On top of this, the researchers plan to utilize nanotechnology in another way. The nanotech properties of graphene help produce reusable silicon-based anodes. These enhance a battery’s overall storage capabilities. The graphene battery equation looks like the following:
storage faster recharging cooler, stable operating temperatures
What Graphene Batteries Could Mean for Power Tools
Given that coating anodes and cathodes with nano-sized sheets or balls of graphene results in faster charging, greater power density, and better heat management, the advantages for power tools are numerous. Your high-capacity cordless drill or circular saw battery could recharge in just a few minutes instead of an hour. It could also potentially run for five times as long.
Also, with fast charging times come fast discharging times. That means you can get more power out of a graphene battery more quickly. That has the potential to bring even more powerful corded tools and equipment onto a battery platform more quickly. Power delivery no longer presents as much of a problem.
In addition, you could see such improvement in charging times that the notion of “all-day run-time” expands to larger and larger tools. The Milwaukee MX FUEL line of equipment provides a great example of this potential. With fast-enough charging of batteries, even larger tools can run one pack while another gets topped off. Provided the charge time falls under the expected real-world run-time, you achieve all-day use as a result.
Other Upsides to Using Graphene in Lithium-ion Cells
Researchers are very confident in the capabilities of graphene as a conductive enhancement. In fact, they claim graphene-based cell phone batteries, which currently take between one and five hours to fully recharge, would have their time reduced to under 10 minutes!
The Current State of Graphene Battery Technology
Graphene batteries have already hit the marketplace. CAT-branded power tools claim graphene battery technology that lets them recharge a 5Ah battery in less than 20 minutes. They also boast 4X longer life over lithium-ion as well as cooler operating temperatures. Others are sure to follow, and some may already have released batteries with graphene technology who have not yet marketed it as such.
Graphene Powered Supercapacitors – Curved Graphene
Something very interesting that we see entering the market in various places goes by the name of graphene powered supercapacitors. One company, Skeleton, has several different products already on the market, including their SkelCap series. These curved graphene supercapacitors feature high energy density as well as low internal resistance.
As you can imagine, better energy density means these batteries fit right in with the EV and heavy transportation and industrial markets. In those sectors, both weight and space play key roles in the efficiency of vehicles.
Graphene supercapacitors also generate less heat—even under high-current loads. These graphene supercapacitors feature a curved design that exposes more of the surface area to the electric current. This reduces resistance and improves efficiency.
Lastly, Skeleton claims their graphene-powered supercapacitors have an application lifetime of up to 15 years or more! When we look at EVs and heavy equipment, a lifespan of 15 years starts to really make sense. We expect to see this particular technology show up first in commercial vehicles and some electric vehicles.
Huawei Graphene-Assisted High-Temperature Li-ion Batteries
In 2016, China-based Huawei announced a major breakthrough in its Li-ion battery research. At the 57th Battery Symposium in Japan, they unveiled the world’s first long-lifespan graphene-assisted Li-ion battery able to withstand high temperatures. They claimed, at the time, a reduction of 5 degrees C compared to existing batteries already in the market.
Applied in the field, the real-world environmental gains improved by up to 10 degrees C. Applications include areas where you have both hot climates and frequent power outages (like Africa). EV applications also remain a possibility.
As of 2023, this technology has shown up in the company’s Graphene Film Cooling Technology used to conduct heat away from the battery in cell phones. In this way, Huawei continues to lean mostly on the Rapid heat conductivity properties of graphene as opposed to using it within their actual batteries.
Due to the current blockade of chips to the company, Huawei also plans to begin using graphene in their semiconductors and transistors to create new chip technologies that rival traditional silicon technology. The use of graphene (via carbon nanotube chips) could also potentially speed up communication and drop costs.
Strategic Elements Graphene Oxide Self-Charging Batteries
Strategic Elements is working on a new battery technology that uses liquid ink based on graphene oxide. The process involves coating the graphene oxide ink onto glass. It would supposedly be able to harvest energy from humidity present in the air or skin to self-charge—in just a few minutes. Strategic Elements is working with the University of New South Wales to test and develop the technology. They would target the new graphene oxide battery technology to the diverse market of IOT devices.
A graphene oxide battery with the potential to charge itself from the humidy in the air or on your skin sounds like an amazing leap forward for watches, low-power e-readers, and more. Imagine having no need for manual charging or wires! Learn more here.
GMG Graphene Aluminum-ion Battery
GMG, working with the University of Queensland Research and UniQuest, has under development graphene aluminum-ion battery technology. The new formulation features high energy and power densities compared to current lithium-ion battery technology. It claims up to 3X longer battery life and up to 70X faster charging speeds.
As of June 2022, GMG has already manufactured graphene aluminum-ion batteries in pouch cell format. GMG has plans to construct an initial commercial coin cell Graphene Aluminum-ion (GAI) battery manufacturing facility followed by mass production of parallel pouch cell batteries.
NASA SABERS Solid State Graphene Battery
Not to be outdone, NASA has plans to develop its SABERS solid state graphene battery. SABERS stands for Solid-state Architecture Batteries for Enhanced Rechargeability and Safety. Under development for years at its Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, the NASA SABERS battery aims to allow for applications previously thought impossible—like battery-powered flight.
Making a graphene battery (or any battery for that matter) suitable for flight requires several things. It must have adequate power density—more power in less space. The battery also has to weigh as little as possible. It must be able to discharge quickly and has to scale to any application.
It also needs to be extremely safe since it has to power a vehicle with the potential, to carry hundreds of passengers. That means eliminating any potentially toxic or flammable chemicals. So far, according to reports, SABERS looks on track to present a compelling solution…eventually.
The SABERS solid-state graphene battery currently delivers 500 Watt-hours per kilogram. That comes in about twice the energy density of even the best battery technology used in current EVs. The regional target for flight falls around 480 Watt-hours. Learn more here.
The Future of Graphene Batteries
As for the future of graphene-based nanotechnology, it remains a complicated and expensive process. With further research and economy of scale, it should make cordless power tools run longer. It should also let manufacturers pack a lot more power into a smaller package. Between that, cooler operating temperatures, and faster charging—graphene battery technology could revolutionize cordless tools, EVs, and heavy equipment within the next 5-10 years.
Rather than choose a direction graphene battery technology is likely to take, we imagine it will hit all areas. That includes solid state, use in cooling technology, curved solutions for speeding up charging, and full integration into anodes and cathodes. With respect to some of the more advanced announcements we’ve seen, imagine the possibilities. Put a graphene-based battery with twice the power density into an EV and you could get as much as 1000 miles per charge! You would also gain the ability to recharge in the same (or less) time as current vehicles with ~350-mile ranges.
It certainly has our imaginations soaring!
Clint DeBoer
When he’s not playing with the latest power tool, Clint DeBoer enjoys life as a husband, father, and avid reader—especially the Bible. He loves Jesus, has a degree in recording engineering, and has been involved in multimedia and/or online publishing in one form or another since 1992.
Clint’s career has covered nearly the entire realm of audio and video production. After graduating at the top of his class with an Associates Degree in Recording Engineering, he began working for the famed Soundelux studios in 1994, one of the largest post-production companies specializing in audio for feature films television. Working on a myriad of feature films, Clint honed his skills as a dialogue editor, foley editor, and sound designer. Years later, he moved into the expanding area of video editing, where he served as the company’s senior AVID video editor for three years.
Working for such clients as Universal Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, Paramount Home Entertainment, NASA, Universal Studios, Planet Hollywood, SEGA, NASCAR, and others, Clint DeBoer dealt extensively with client management as well as film video editing, color correction, and digital video MPEG compression. He also carries several THX certifications (Technician I and II, THX Video), and is ISF Level II Certified.
After founding the CD Media, Inc. publishing company in 1996, he went on to help start or grow several successful online publications, including Audioholics (as Editor-in-Chief for 12 years), Audiogurus, and AV Gadgets. In 2008, Clint founded Pro Tool Reviews followed by the landscape and outdoor power equipment-focused OPE Reviews in 2017. He also heads up the Pro Tool Innovation Awards, an annual awards program honoring innovative tools and accessories across the trades.
Crediting God and his excellent staff for the success of what is now the largest power tool review publication in the industry, Clint DeBoer hopes to see continued growth for the company as it rapidly expands its reach. Pro Tool Reviews critically reviews hundreds of hand tools, power tools, and accessories each year to help inform users about the best and newest products in the industry. Reaching everyone from the construction industry professional and tradesman to the serious DIYer, Pro Tool Reviews helps tool consumers shop better, work smarter, and stay aware of what tools and products can help put them at the top of their game.
Graphene batteries: What are they and why are they a big deal?
Graphene batteries could greatly increase the battery life of your gadgets and smartphone. Here’s what you need to know.
The average smartphone battery life has improved considerably over the past few years. Still, the allure of better battery life continues to this day, especially as screens get larger and unique form factors like foldable gain popularity. Wouldn’t it be great if our handsets lasted two or three full days of heavy use with just a single charge? What about a whole week? With graphene batteries, this might not be such a pipe dream.
What is a graphene battery?
Before delving into the graphene battery, it’s worth quickly recapping what graphene is and how it works.
We’ve written about graphene a few times here at Android Authority. It seems like one of those technologies with heaps of promise but that’s perpetually just around the corner. In a nutshell, graphene is a composition of carbon atoms tightly bound in a hexagonal or honeycomb-like structure.
What makes graphene so unique is that this structure is just one atomic layer thick, essentially making a graphene sheet practically two-dimensional. This 2D structure produces very interesting properties, including excellent electrical and thermal conductivity, high flexibility, high strength, and low weight. What we’re particularly interested in is the electrical and heat conductivity, both of which are actually superior to copper — one of the more commonly used conductive metals.
Graphene can not only conduct electricity and heat better than copper but also do so at a fraction of the weight.
When it comes to batteries, graphene’s capabilities can be used in a number of ways. The ideal use of graphene as a battery is as a “supercapacitor.” Supercapacitors store current just like a traditional battery but can charge and discharge incredibly quickly.
The unsolved trick with graphene is how to economically mass manufacture the super-thin sheets for use in batteries and other technologies. Production costs are prohibitively high at the moment, but research is helping to make graphene batteries are reality. In the future, graphene could be the material that replaces the lithium-ion batteries that the technology industry has become so reliant on for decades.
Back in 2017, Samsung announced a breakthrough with its “graphene ball” but we haven’t heard anything else since. recently, Chinese carmaker GAC has teased a graphene-based battery that can be recharged to 80% within just 8 minutes. We are gradually creeping closer to commercial viability, but remain a way off from mainstream adoption of graphene batteries. For now, graphene-composite (using graphene to enhance the chemical properties of standard Li-ion batteries) seems like the way to go.
Graphene vs. lithium-ion batteries
Just like lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, graphene cells use two conductive plates coated in a porous material and immersed in an electrolyte solution. But while their internal make-up is quite similar, the two batteries offer different characteristics.
Graphene offers higher electrical conductivity than lithium-ion batteries. This allows for faster-charging cells that are able to deliver very high currents as well. This is particularly useful for high-capacity car batteries, for example, or fast device-to-device charging. High heat conductance also means that batteries run cooler, prolonging their lifespan even in cramped cases like a smartphone.
Graphene batteries are also lighter and slimmer than today’s lithium-ion cells. This means smaller, thinner devices or larger capacities without requiring extra room. Not only that, but graphene allows for much higher capacities. Lithium-ion stores up to 180Wh of energy per kilogram while graphene can store up to 1,000Wh per kilogram.
Finally, graphene is safer. While lithium-ion batteries have a very good safety record, there have been a few major incidents involving faulty products. Overheating, overcharging, and puncturing can cause runaway chemical imbalances in li-ion batteries that result in fire. Graphene is much more stable, flexible, and stronger, and is more resilient to such issues.
You don’t have to have one or the other though. Li-ion batteries can use graphene to enhance cathode conductor performance. These are known as graphene-metal oxide hybrids or graphene-composite batteries. Hybrid batteries result in lower weight, faster charge times, greater storage capacity, and a longer lifespan than today’s batteries. The first consumer-grade graphene batteries are hybrids, such as the graphene-composite power bank in the video at the top of this article.
Pros and cons of graphene batteries for smartphones
Future smartphones packing graphene power cells would exhibit the benefits outlined above. Handsets, battery packs, and the like could charge as fast or even faster than the current quick-charge technologies on the market. Battery life should also easily last a day or two, if not longer, and devices could be thinner and lighter than they are now.
The move to graphene could offer 60% or more capacity compared to the same-sized lithium-ion battery. Combined with better heat dissipation, cooler batteries will extend device lifespans too. You won’t need to pay for expensive battery replacements after a couple of years to keep your old devices performing in top condition.
Graphene batteries would allow smartphones to be thinner or offer more battery capacity while keeping their current proportions. There are also interesting implications for fast device-to-device charging. With batteries able to support very high currents and blazing fast recharge and discharge times, gadgets could charge each other up at super-fast speeds.
The only major disadvantage to the technology is that mass production is prohibitively expensive and extremely complex, putting it out of reach for the vast majority of applications. Even so, graphene-battery technology is a tantalizing prospect for future smartphones, gadgets, electric vehicles, and much more. Fortunately, hybrid graphene products are already here and should become even more commonplace and affordable in the coming months and years. Graphene is definitely a technology to keep an eye on.
Select The Right Type Of Battery To Power Your E-Bike
Due to their functionality based on batteries rather than on petroleum-based fuel, electric vehicles (EVs) are often referred to as battery wali gaadi (battery car) in Hindi. Modern vehicles have indeed come a long way from being petrol/diesel operated to battery-operated ones.
Earlier, mobile phones were used strictly for calling purposes. Nowadays, mobile phones have transformed into smartphones that come with several digital functionalities and serve many purposes apart from calling. Just as they have become an integral part of our present, similarly, EVs in the future will become quite common. With so many developments taking place on the EV front, not only will you be able to monitor and control their operations, but you will also experience a lot of functionalities that new-age smartphones provide. All digital functionalities will be very well built inside the EV itself.
When we speak of batteries, there are multiple options. Current battery technologies include:
Lead-acid: This type of battery technology is the most common one, mainly used in internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles and inverters to provide uninterrupted power to homes in the event of a power failure. Lead-acid battery comes in gel and non-gel options.
Graphene battery: This type of battery technology has better life and performance as compared to a lead-acid battery. It is also available in gel non-gel versions.
Lithium battery: It is quite popular and considered to be the future of battery technology. Lithium batteries come in two variants: Lithium-Ion (Li-ion), which generally has a lifespan of about 1000 – 1200 or at max 1500 lifecycles, and Lithium Ferro Phosphate (LiFePO4), which has more life and is less vulnerable as compared to lithium-ion batteries.
| The lifecycle of a battery means the number of times a battery can be charged before it becomes useless. Life of lithium batteries is generally measured on two parameters: natural life and chargeable life. |
Another type of rechargeable battery that can be used in place of Lithium-Ion is Lithium Titanate Oxide (LTO). It has a 25 C current delivery, which means it can deliver 25x an existing vehicle cell, and produce a charge for 100 sq per gram surface area, which is much higher compared to 3 sq per gram of Li-ion. LTO also has a lifecycle of 3000 – 7000 charge cycles.
It is expected that within the next two years, LTO will take over Li-Ion with a much better range and charging cycle. LTO is easily adaptable and can be a promising technology in the near future.
Glimpses Of The EV-bound Future
There are no second thoughts on the claims of EVs revolutionising the future. These vehicles would be based on different speed modes, allowing any family member to control such a vehicle.
Suppose, a student is going to a college or an office goer going to their workplace in an e-bike. With the help of this feature, the vehicle will only go to the intended destination and cease to move beyond that, thus preventing unnecessary battery depletion.
Instead of keys, it will be fingerprint sensing technology that will enable a person to lock/unlock their vehicle in a parking lot.
While travelling, if you tend to cross the speed limit as specified on a particular stretch of road/highway, then the Bluetooth device present in the helmet will connect to our mobile device and send an SMS alert to slow down.
E-bikes with touchscreen speedometers and wide GPS functions will become the norm in future. From controllers to motors, and any faults concerning battery temperature and charging will be rectified through a dedicated mobile app.
Since it is expected that all mobile functionalities will be in-built in an e-bike, developments in communications technology will render your smartphone useless; there will be no need for you to carry your mobile phone in the future. This will save you from talking while driving and significantly bring down the number of road accidents.
Basic Electrochemistry
The two electrodes, cathode and anode are responsible for transferring ions present in an electrolyte to produce an electric charge in an electric battery. Charging takes place from anode to cathode while discharging takes place from cathode to anode.
In lithium batteries, lithium salt is used as an electrolyte. Electrochemical roles get reversed between anode and cathode depending upon the direction of current flow through the cells. So in this way, we obtain small cells having voltages of 2.4 – 3.6 V that combine to deliver energy to the vehicle. Depending upon constant current or voltage, charging of the battery occurs.
Based on this, research activities are going on for using hydrogen that can produce H2O as residue. Not only will the end result help in reducing emissions to a great extent, but will also allow batteries to store more energy that will increase an EV’s range, thereby eliminating the fear of going on long rides.
Challenges
The limited range or mileage of an EV is a bottleneck. To solve it, the power of the motor should be increased.
High cost is another deterrent for the wide adoption of EVs. This is because most EVs having a good range are quite expensive. This brings us to the previous point which states that increasing the motor power will minimise the problem of range. RD is required to provide ideal motor power in EVs.
LTO has benefits over Li-Ion. But its size is a constraint. In cars, it is easy to install. But for two-wheelers, there is a space limitation. So more research is needed.
Can solar panels be placed on an e-bike for battery charging?
No. The reason is that charging EVs through solar energy is a very slow process, barely reaching 50%-80% charge in an hour. While on the go, regenerative braking controllers instead effectively charge batteries.
There is also the issue of utility that crops up when considering solar panels for e-bike battery charging. You may install them for charging your smartphone or LED lights but it won’t be able to fully charge the battery. For 1 KW, you approximately require a space of 5-8 sq metres. Now since these vehicles require 2KW power, you will require 16 sq metres of area that should be directly exposed to the sun. So, that’s why it will be difficult.
Role of IoT in Battery Management
IoT is nothing but an aggregation of huge data incoming from various social media and internet platforms, and analysing them afterwards to generate useful reports and analytics. As of now, smartphones are assisting different electronic devices to spread the growth of IoT. At a later stage, EVs would replace smartphones and perform the same analytics, especially regarding regulation of vehicle functionalities including battery management.
Going forward, all EVs are expected to be CAN compliant, thus allowing all electronic devices of an EV to function under a single protocol and communicate with each other, which will further allow vehicles to communicate via the internet.
Summing It All Up…
While AI and IoT will bring about a massive transformation in transportation services, they will eventually fail if batteries driving the mode of transportation are not optimised and monitored at regular intervals. Here’s hoping the ongoing research in battery technologies will help us realise a future where EVs/e-bikes will become a common sight.
Vikas Gupta is the founder CEO, e-Ashwa Automotive Pvt. Ltd. Amit Singh is the co-founder director of operations, e-Ashwa Automotive Pvt. Ltd. The article is based on a session called “Advancements in Battery Tech” held at the e-bikes show – Tech World Congress, and compiled by Vinay Prabhakar Minj, Technology Journalist at EFY.