Since its discovery ten years ago and after receiving a surge of interest when its inventor received a Nobel Prize, graphene has been lauded as a miracle material. Developers planned to use graphene for flexible displays and improved data storage, as well as for high-performance batteries and electronic components. Researchers at the Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU) have completed a critical review of existing literature on graphene’s applications to batteries and published their findings in the journal Nature Materials.
Initially the researchers focused their review on experiments comparing graphene with graphite, the material currently most favored for negative electrodes in Lithium-ion batteries. But because they found only selective improvements, they chose to do a comprehensive literature review.
“A large percentage of publications focusing on the use of graphene for electrochemical batteries overestimated the potential capacity of graphene,” explains Stefano Passerini, leader of the research group “Electrochemistry for Batteries” at the HIU. Despite enormous amounts of research data, it wasn’t clear until now whether graphene truly has the potential to revolutionize multiple areas of our lives. “The major work required in the future is to fill the gap between laboratory research and practical applications,” clarifies Dr. Passerini.
Published article in Nature Materials: “The role of graphene for electrochemical energy storage”
Translation by Melissa Pernice