The potential for improved performance and life cycle, fast charging and enhanced safety have proven to be enough of an incentive to inspire active study into graphene-based batteries, with many researchers and companies working globally to develop this energy Holy Grail.
Graphene-enhanced batteries seem to be one of those technologies that holds great promise and appeal, but always remains somewhat unattainable. Some batteries have been commercialized in which graphene was used to perform secondary functions - such as to enhance the casing flexibility or the heat dissipation abilities. These batteries have been launched in some markets - but this is not the breakthrough everybody is waiting for. Some claims have been made regarding actual graphene batteries. Some of these have been found to be outright scams while others have yet to form an actual presence on the market. It is also important to know that not all graphene-enhanced batteries actually use graphene - some use graphene derivatives or multi-layer graphene which is actual graphite.
In spite of all the above, advances are being made and milestones achieved, with some initial products entering the market and great amounts of funds invested into R&D. It is still our view that graphene holds great promise for the batteries of the future.
Here are some of the battery-related highlights of the last 3 months:
- Skeleton Technologies working on graphene “SuperBattery” for EVs, signs €1 billion LOI with a leading automotive manufacturer
- KoreaGraph to test graphene li-ion batteries for fast charging electronics
- Xiaomi's Mi 10 Ultra smartphone said to sport "the first mass-produced graphene Li-ion battery"
- SafeLi chosen for DoE advanced batteries project funding
- NanoGraf receives $1.65 Million from U.S. Department of Defense to Improve the batteries that power soldiers’ equipment
- 2D Fab to commercialize graphene battery anode following successful funding round
- Rice University researchers use sticky tape to improve batteries
- Doped graphene shows promise for sodium-ion batteries
- Brown researchers combine a ceramic material with graphene to create the toughest solid electrolyte built to date
To learn more about graphene and its applications in the batteries market, check out Graphene-Info's graphene batteries report, last updated on July 2020.