Researchers Cook Up Energy Storage Stew With Hydrogen And Graphene
Clean Technica November 9th, 2015 by Tina Casey
The mobile energy storage units — also known as electric vehicles — have been targeted by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for a makeover, and those of you who are sceptical about the role that hydrogen will play in powering the car of the future may be in for a surprise. According to the research team, hydrogen could be used to improve lithium-ion batteries, the current gold standard for electric vehicle batteries.
Hydrogen In A Li-ion Battery, With Graphene
The new energy storage research from Livermore is focused on improving the electrodes of Li-ion batteries. For those of you new to the topic, the basic battery has two electrodes, one positive and one negative. Lithium ions that are hanging on the negative electrode scoot over to the positive electron when the battery is discharging, and then they reverse course when the battery is being charged.
Graphene is an atomic-scale honeycomb lattice made of carbon atoms.
That means the material of which the electrode is made has a lot of work to do. Think of a dog walker with too many leashes, not enough leashes, tangled leashes, or leashes that break at inopportune moments, and you get the picture. Here’s how the folks at Livermore describe the challenge:
Several key characteristics of lithium ion battery performance — capacity, voltage and energy density — are ultimately determined by the binding between lithium ions and the electrode material. Subtle changes in the structure, chemistry and shape of an electrode can significantly affect how strongly lithium ions bond to it.
This is where graphene, our favorite nanomaterial of the new millennium, comes in. Researchers (and this guy, of course) have been tinkering around with graphene as an electrode material for the next generation of high performance, long range EV batteries...snip
MORE: https://cleantechnica.com/2015/11/09/researchers-cook-energy-storage-stew-hydrogen-graphene/
