Nickel-based graphene energy storage battery

Wu, Z. S., Ren, W., Xu, L., Li, F. & Cheng, H. M. Doped graphene sheets as anode materials with superhigh rate and large capacity for lithium ion batteries. ACS Nano 5, 5463–5471 (2011). Zhou, W. et al. A general strategy toward graphene metal oxide core–shell nanostructures for high-performance lithium storage. Energy Environ.

Graphene is widely used in batteries either as the active component or inactive conductive additive. In the latter case, graphene forms a 3D electron conducting network offering electron 'superhighways' that promote the charge transfer exchange rate of active materials.

Ye, M. et al. Uniquely arranged graphene-on-graphene structure as a binder-free anode for high-performance lithium-ion batteries. Small 10, 5035–5041 (2014). Gwon, H. et al. Flexible energy storage devices based on graphene paper. Energy Environ. Sci. 4, 1277–1283 (2011).

This will allow the design of novel materials and composites with custom properties and could enable the practical use of graphene-based materials in energy-storage devices. Another issue to be considered in graphene composites is the accessibility of the active materials to the electrolyte.

The synergy between battery materials such as nanostructured nickel oxides, hydroxides, LDH-Ni with supercapacitors such as graphene/functionalized graphene/doped graphene, provides better energy storage performances than the pure materials.

There are several methods in which graphene can be hybridized with battery materials to produce composites with improved electrochemical performance. Specifically, the battery materials can be anchored to the graphene surface, wrapped by graphene sheets, encapsulated in a graphene shell or sandwiched between two graphene monolayers.