Graphene Battery vs Lithium-Ion Battery

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, developed in 1976, have become the most commonly used type of battery. They are used to power devices from phones and laptops to electric vehicles and solar energy storage systems. However, the limitations of Li-ion batteries are becoming increasingly noticeable. Despite their high charge capacity and low manufacturing costs, Li-ion batteries suffer from low energy density, slow charging times, short lifespans, and significant safety risks, including the potential for fires.

Graphene, a 2D material discovered in 2004, has transformed battery technology. Incorporating graphene materials into Li-ion batteries can alleviate many of their limitations and introduces new benefits, such as the possibility for flexibile batteries. Graphene-enhanced batteries offer fast charging, high energy density, extended lifetimes, and crucially, are non-flammable. One important distinction to make is that when we talk about graphene batteries, we are talking about batteries that use graphene in any way. Therefore, graphene batteries can also be lithium-ion batteries.

Graphene’s unique properties, such as high surface area, exceptional conductivity, and flexibility, make it an ideal material for next-generation batteries. Most commonly used in the electrodes of a conventional battery setups, graphene has rapidly advanced to become a viable and superior option to the typical Li-ion battery.

Graphene Battery vs Standard Lithium-Ion Pros and Cons

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There are advantages and disadvantage to both graphene batteries and sole Li-ion batteries.

	Standard Li-Ion Battery	Graphene Battery
Advantages	High charge capacity Lower manufacturing cost	Faster charging High energy density Lifetime Non-toxic Non-flammable Lightweight Flexible Transparent
Disadvantages	Lower energy density Slower charging Slower lifetime Heavy Toxic Flammable	Higher Manufacturing cost Limited commercial availability (scalability)

Performance comparison: Li-Ion vs Graphene Battery

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A battery's performance is influenced by several key properties, such as charge capacity, energy density, and lifetime. Optimizing these parameters can significantly enhance a battery’s overall operation. Although graphene batteries have only been researched since 2011, they are already demonstrating superior performance compared to traditional Li-ion batteries in many areas.

	Definition	Lithium-Ion Battery	Graphene-Enhanced Battery
First device		1976	2011
Charge capacity (milliamp-hours / mAh)	The amount of chemical energy stored within the battery	~ 2700 - 3300 mAh	~ 1000 mAh
Charging speed	How fast the battery can be fully recharged	1-2 hours	27 minutes
Energy Density (watt-hours per kilogram / Wh kg-1)	The amount of energy the battery can store per unit mass.	~250 Wh kg-1	~1000 Wh kg-1
Lifetime	The number of times the battery can be fully recharged whilst maintaining at least 80% of its original capacity.	~ 500	~ 2500
Safety	Some batteries can overheat causing fires.	Flammable	Non-flammable
Sustainability	Many battery components include materials that must be mined and are hazardous, making recycling difficult.	Mined	Lab-grown

Material Density and Surface Area

Battery performance depends strongly on the materials it's made of and therefore the properties of each material. Two material properties that have significant effects on a battery's performance are material density and surface area.

Material density is a material's mass per unit volume. In battery materials, higher densities often mean there is more material for charge storage but this also makes the battery heavier. Lithium has a high density of 530 mg cm^-3. Whilst graphene has a considerably lower density of 0.77 mg cm^-2. As graphene is a 2D material, it's height dimension is almost negligible. Therefore this is often called the planar density and given as a mass per unit area. A lower density means batteries can be more lightweight which is particularly desirable for electric vehicle (EV) applications.

However, graphene has a much higher surface area than Lithium. Surface area is the total area of all faces of the material per unit mass. High surface areas mean there are more active sites for redox reactions to occur. In other words, this is the amount of available surface area per 1 g of material. In turn, this means faster charging. Lithium's surface area is 4 m² g^-1 , whereas graphene's surface area is over 650 times this at 2630 m² g^-1. For context, 1 gram of can cover a single table tennis top, whereas 1 gram of graphene is enough to cover about 10 full-sized tennis courts.

 

Li-Ion Batteries

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Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries were first developed in 1976 and have become the most commonly used type of battery. Li-ion batteries can be found in phones, laptops, cameras, electric vehicles and solar energy systems. The broad application of Li-ion batteries shows their success, but they have upcoming competition.

Why use Lithium-ions In Batteries?

Li-ion batteries, called this due to the lithium ions used in the electrolyte, revolutionised battery technology. The Li-ion battery development lead to slim smartphones and electric vehicles. As of 2022, Li-ion batteries were responsible for 40% of the global battery market which reflects the recent increase in electric vehicles. Prior to Li-ion, nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) batteries were most popular. Lithium replaced Ni-Cd batteries due to its superior advantages, most of which relate to its small size.

• Lithium is the lightest metal in the periodic table. Lithium’s density is roughly 18 times lower than that of Ni and Cd at only 0.53 g cm^-3. Lithium’s light weight made it a popular choice for many applications, in particular consumer devices.
• Lithium’s lower electronegativity also offered advantages to batteries. Electronegativity is the ability to attract electrons. Its values are given within the range of 0 to 4. Lithium has a low electronegativity of 0.98, whereas both Ni and Cd lie closer to 2. The low electronegativity means Li can easily lose electrons which encourages faster ion transfers and can help with faster charging times. Li-ion batteries were also reported to retain charge for longer than their Ni-Cd predecessors.
• It is important to note that lithium is considered a hazardous material. However, cadmium poses a significantly higher risk to both human and environmental health. Therefore, at the time lithium was considered a less toxic option.

Disadvantages of Li-Ion Batteries

It’s clear from comparing Li-ion to graphene batteries, that Li-ion is inferior any several areas. Significant limitations of Li-ion batteries are their:

• lower energy density
• slower charging
• shorter lifetimes
• toxicity concerns
• flammability issues.

Graphene Batteries

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Graphene was only discovered in 2004 but rapid advancements have made it a welcome addition or alternative to the sole Li-ion battery. Graphene is most popularly used in the electrodes of conventional battery setups, but can also be combined into electrolytes or as additional interlayers.

Why Use Graphene in Batteries?

Graphene is a 2D material consisting only of carbon. It exists in thin sheets with the carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb type structure. Although graphene is a relatively new material compared to lithium, its advantages have been quickly recognised. By incorporating graphene into Li-ion batteries, most often at the electrodes, many battery properties can be improved. Graphene batteries outperform trditional Li-ion batteries in terms of energy density and charging speed. Graphene batteries also offer new features such as being flexible and non-flammable.

Electrodes are one of the most influential parts of a battery. At the electrodes the redox reactions take place, these provide the chemical energy to make the battery work. Therefore a material that can efficiently transfer charge is a good material for an electrode. The high surface area of graphene make it an excellent candidate for this. A large surface area means more active sites for redox reactions to occur and so faster charging.

The benefits of graphene batteries have been widely recognised. Graphene batteries are under rapid development with applications in consumer electronic, such as phones and laptops. The thermal stability of graphene batteries render them a great choice for electric vehicles. More advanced applications such as satellites and battery-supercapacitor hybrids are also being explored.

Disadvantages of Graphene Batteries

Despite the considerable advancements in graphene battery technology, they are not yet ready for the market. A hindrance of graphene batteries is their low charge capacity compared to Li-ion batteries. A higher charge capacity means more chemical energy can be stored and therefore more electrical energy can be withdrawn.

As graphene is a lab-made material, fabrication costs are high. To make high purity graphene with minimal defects, energy intensive methods are required and these are therefore expensive. This also limits it's current scalability.

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