Understanding the use of graphene batteries for space and defence applications
The system that powers a spacecraft and all the components of a spacecraft power-system, collectively form an important part of the complete mass required for building a spacecraft. Constant research and efforts are being put in all over the world to understand the potential ways in which this mass for the production of the batteries for spacecraft could be used for satisfactorily meeting with the ever-increasing demands for energy, specifically, satellite energy. This support is essential for warfighting in the future and meeting with the energy-based demands of the space and defence industry, in which, the novel and advanced graphene battery technology plays a major role.
Graphene batteries for applications in space
The conventional batteries like the lithium-ion batteries utilise graphite material for its anode component. The extensive use of graphene and its enhancements, can very efficiently replace the use of graphite for electrode material and can promise potentially remarkable results in terms of a great gravimetric capacity, while at the same time maintaining a reasonable amount of cyclic stability. The graphene material in itself, along with the graphene enhancements for example, the anodes that are graphene enhanced can offer a two times higher gravimetric potential as compared to other materials like graphite, making it a suitable choice for various application in space.
Use and application of graphene in defence
The full-time production of a cell with the help of a methodology that utilizes pre-lithiation is vital for assessing the use of the material graphene and its performance as an electrode, specifically the anode component in the batteries. The light weight and the unmatchable strength of the graphene material makes it a great fit for ballistic protection in military and defence. This is because, armour material that is relatively lighter and stronger can prove to be extremely useful for achieving high mobility and a high range with a remarkable level of protection. Graphene batteries, dissipate energy in the form of kinetic energy and display remarkable endurance that is relatively ten times greater than steel. The endurance and the stretchability property of graphene is surprisingly similar to fabric materials like zylon that have been conventionally used for protection and survivability in military and defence. Furthermore, the graphene batteries due to the extraordinary performance outcomes it offers, is also being used for drones.
Conclusion
The tight, honeycomb like latticed structure of graphene, with relatively shorter carbon bonds is responsible for its inherent property of strength. C6 Energy’s graphene battery dissipate heat well and is extremely useful for space and defence applications, inclusive of batteries used in drones and other space applications that demand a high gravimetric capacity.
The scope and potential of graphene batteries in the electronics industry
Given the extent of technological advancements in the last couple of decades, an era of relatively more impactful inventions has begun. The rise in the need and the usage of electronic devices has led to an increase in the demand for batteries that run these devices. With the enormous potential of graphene batteries in terms of their applications, these batteries have become the latest trend in the electronics industry, especially the industry for portable electronics. In the portable electronics industry, specifically for smartphones, the life of these increases by five times and the phones charge at a significantly faster rate than the conventional lithium-ion batteries.
Graphene batteries with a greater number of possibilities
There are a great number of possibilities that arise with the use of graphene batteries. The rise in these possibilities is essential for overcoming the limitations of conventional batteries like lithium-ion batteries, which are responsible for putting a halt to the development and expansion of various industries like the automobile, telecom, space and defence, especially the portable electronics device industry. These industries are reliable in effectively functioning batteries for appropriate functioning and positive performance outcomes. Still, with the current state of energy-storing batteries like lithium-ion batteries, the industries are unable to innovate the way in which they should due to the various energy storage and efficacy related limitations. The advent of graphene batteries has brought a revolution in terms of their capabilities that make them a suitable choice for the electronics industry. The extraordinary properties of graphene, including extensively high storage capacity and overall efficiency, have enabled a level of functionality that had not been witnessed previously.
Graphene batteries enabling portable devices to perform better
Graphene batteries have enabled portable electronic devices to last for a longer span of time and perform very effectively. The minimal technological and environmental drawbacks that are associated with it promises sustainability in the electronic industry. Graphene batteries in electric vehicles can offer higher capacity, reduced charging time, and stability in terms of temperature, allowing electric vehicles to become more commercially and technologically viable than ever before. Lithium-ion batteries for electric cars enable the vehicle to cover a fair amount of distance but does not offer great performance results for a number of customers in terms of justifying purchasing an electric vehicle over a gas-fuelled vehicle.
Conventional batteries like lithium-ion batteries approach maximal efficiency quickly, and novel technology demands a greater supply of power in the same span of time. Innovations like smartphones and electric vehicles require greater energy storage to perform, which is fulfilled by the graphene batteries. For smartphones, in addition to high capacity, high electrical and heat conductivity for better dissipation of heat is also essential to prevent the phones from getting heated up and exploding. These explosions pose a problem to the safety of the users and are caused by chemical imbalances in the batteries, which is very unlikely in the case of graphene batteries.
Conclusion
C6 Energy’s graphene batteries allow for a greater surface to mass ratio and its other offerings make it a suitable choice for portable devices that are an upcoming and vital part of the electronics industry.
The future of battery technology! Let’s understand the role of graphene in this.
Graphene is a sheet-like structure wherein the carbon atoms are latticed in a honeycomb-like network. It is being increasingly and extensively considered as a spectacular material for industrial uses, a most important one being as foundational material for batteries given the critically beneficial attributes that it holds. These attributes, including the potency to conduct high energy levels, be it thermal, electrical, or heat energy, and its lightweight structure, make it a potential future of batteries serving multiple uses in various fields. Not only this, but graphene is an inert yet flexible material with high surface area coverage. It has also been considered to offer stability as a battery. It is relatively more environment-friendly, making it the best battery technology choice that showcases a futuristic approach with unending applications in several industrial domains.
What makes graphene the future of battery technology
In terms of battery technology, the materials that are traditionally used as suitable for electrodes have shown a significant amount of improvement with the advent of graphene technology. This is because a graphene-based battery is not only extremely light with high durability but is also possibly the most appropriate choice for a high amount of energy storage with reduced time of charging and longer lifespans. Graphene, therefore, increases the lifespan of the battery that has been made using graphene instead of materials like lithium. Graphene material adds a greater level of conductivity for electricity and heat without actually needing the quantity of carbon that a conventional type of battery may require. Battery related attributes inclusive of energy density can be enhanced in numerous ways using graphene.
Capitalising high conductivity and fast charging
In addition to this, the functioning of the rechargeable batteries, including the lithium-ion batteries, can be improved by adding graphene material to the anode. Furthermore, it is capitalising on the high conductivity and high surface area properties of graphene to ultimately achieve optimisation in terms of performance and design, giving a new outlook to battery technology. It has also come forth that developing materials that are hybrid can prove to be useful for improvising the already existing properties of a battery. For example, certain mixtures of graphene with other compounds can contribute to grant fast charging and cyclic durability to the battery.
Conclusion
In most of these cases, the very structure of the backbone promotes better conductivity, ultimately improving the overall quality and worth of a battery, making graphene and graphene material hybrids the best choice for use in the near future. Not only has graphene revolutionised battery technology and the market, but it has given a new dimension to batteries that have all the desirable properties that one looks for in a battery. Also, the use of graphene in appropriate combinations with other compounds can yield astonishing results. C6 Energy focuses on the widespread manufacture and commercialisation of this graphene battery technology to satisfy consumer demands in the most fulfilling yet sustainable way.
Making the right choice of batteries: A step towards a sustainable environment
The ever-evolving needs and the depletion of resources sourced from fossil fuels indicate the urgent need to pursue sustainable alternatives, inclusive of renewable energy sources and the technology for sustainable storage. To support a sustainable environment, incorporating the use of clean and green material, eco-efficient processes, and the final design analysis is important. At present, battery technology such as graphene material for developing batteries addresses the issues of a sustainable environment. However, there is still a long way to overcome the hurdles on the fundamental level to attain sustainability via the right choice of batteries.
Challenges that come in the way of a sustainable environment
Challenges in terms of sustainability can be witnessed all through the process of developing energy storage devices, i.e., batteries. These challenges begin from extracting raw material, the manufacturing process, management and the final execution for use across industries like the automobile industries (e-vehicles), electronic devices, and telecom. Recently, it has come to the notice of various sectors involved in manufacturing battery technology that cobalt material and its potential use present significant concerns in the context of maintaining a sustainable environment and longevity.
Principles guiding sustainable development and management
Efforts are being consistently made across industries to minimize the manufacturing process’s negative impact that includes the usage of material like cobalt for developing batteries. Focusing on novel designs for the electrodes, alternative materials that can potentially replace cobalt can yield advantages in terms of performance, for example, high energy density, conductivity and surface area. It is also important to understand how certain principles can guide sustainable development and management. These principles could be the reuse of batteries for e-vehicle applications, recovery of the material used by recycling, and allowing for only a minimal quantity of battery material to go under disposal. All these recovery principles cascade the reuse of battery and battery material for energy storage applications that are comparatively less demanding and have the most significant environmental promise.
Additionally, steps such as manufacturing and testing electrode material for performance and efficacy and checking for the battery’s reliability on any natural resources can be done. Advanced tests for diagnosis and techniques that help maintain a sustainable environment must be conducted. Last but not least, novel systems for recycling material like cobalt must be incorporated accompanied with the assessments on both environmental and economic levels. These steps give the right direction to the manufacturing process and empower it to become increasingly inclined towards a sustainable environment.
Conclusion
C6 Energy’s Graphene batteries are high-performance and cobalt-free. A carbon-neutral process has been utilized to manufacture these highly efficient graphene batteries for a sustainable environment, making them the best batteries for industry-wide usage.
Li-ion batteries vs graphene batteries: What you need to know
Graphene batteries are becoming increasingly famous because of the potential advantages they offer over other commonly used batteries such as the lithium-ion batteries. The internal design and the uses of both the type of batteries may seem to be quite similar. Still, there are major differences in terms of the characteristics and potential benefits of the two batteries. The similarity in both the batteries can be noted in terms of the conductivity plates of the two that contain a porous layer on top in an electrolytic solution. However, the differences are many, and certainly, graphene batteries have an advantage over lithium-ion batteries and are a thing of the present.
What is graphene?
Graphene is a honeycomb-like nanostructure that offers a high conductivity for electricity as compared to the lithium-ion batteries. The specific arrangement of carbon atoms in graphene makes it highly conducive for the easy passage of electrical currents, even the ones that are high in intensity. This property ultimately paves the way for cells that can relatively charge faster by delivering high-intensity electric currents through a medium containing an electrolytic solution. This characteristic of graphene batteries makes it of greater potential use for car batteries or even for fast charging purposes.
Graphene batteries- A more suitable option than lithium-ion batteries
Along with offering a high electrical conductivity than lithium batteries, the graphene batteries also provide a comparatively high conductivity for heat that allows the batteries to remain cooler, extend their lifespan, and make them a better choice for smartphones or all devices that require fast and prolonged charging. In terms of the external make-up, graphene batteries are not only slim but are also extremely light-weight than the batteries that are made from lithium. This makes graphene batteries a suitable choice for devices whose design is supposedly thin, feather-like but with high capacity. Graphene batteries are a success because they do not require extra space to accommodate these features and offer desirable characteristics by storing high quantities of energy per kilogram.
It is important to note that these characteristics and properties make graphene a better but a safer choice compared to the batteries made from lithium. Although the lithium-ion batteries have also been proven to be quite secure over the years, there have been a few incidents wherein it has been a major causative factor for faultiness in certain devices and products, mostly electrical. The stability and flexibility of graphene batteries make the chances of puncturing or over-heating extremely negligible and provide protection against fires due to the misbalancing of chemicals, as in the case of lithium-ion batteries that are less resilient compared to the batteries made of graphene.
Conclusion
With C6 energy, these highly stable, long-lasting and flexible graphene batteries will become more commonplace and extensively used amongst other industries that have always trusted lithium-ion batteries to be the best choice. This would ultimately help graphene batteries become more affordable, which makes it an innovation to look forward to.
Graphene batteries: A breakthrough in the energy space
Batteries have become a significant part of the present-day world and serve as a vital component in numerous devices. However, with the advancements in technology, limitations have come to the forefront, majorly regarding the composition of electrodes in the batteries, hindering innovation instead of enabling it. The conventional lithium-ion batteries have presented sustainability problems, including the deterioration of resources and hazardous impacts to human beings and the environment. As a consequence of this, the focus has now been shifted to developing batteries with materials possessing increasingly desirable characteristics. One example of such a material is graphene. Graphene is a material made of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb-like latticed structure, precisely a single atom thick. Its other significant characteristics include a high surface area, high conductivity due to relatively high electron mobility, and high strength due to its internal make-up. All these properties are indicative of the reason behind graphene holding a great amount of potential for application and use in an energy space or energy industry.
Graphene’s present-day manifestation in the energy industry
As per their present-day manifestation, conventional batteries like lithium-ion batteries cannot continue to be used as a primary method of storage of portable energy and are in no way a sustainable energy storage solution. In actual terms, the mere use of rare materials such as lithium for batteries in itself is a violation of the true meaning of sustainability, which is the preservation of resources for use in future. Now that it is clear that the currently used batteries are not a solution for catering long term needs, research has been focusing on developing alternative and more sustainable batteries. Since the material of the batteries makes the most difference, the utilisation of material that is novel yet sustainable can be used to increase the efficacy of battery designs for the energy industry. Graphene as a suitable material for batteries is the newest and the most significant development in the energy space that functions as a one-stop solution for developing batteries in the energy industry.
The unique structure of graphene
Graphene, with its unique foundational structure, has a better surface area coverage and high heat and electrical conductivity, accompanied by other useful properties. The testing of graphene in the electronic and the energy industry has consistently demonstrated improved efficiency while simultaneously addressing the issue of sustainability posed by batteries made of lithium. Functioning is an important factor; however, batteries now play a greater role in our society that make it imperative for them to represent a sustainable technology and take into account the quality of life of future generations.
Conclusion
Graphene’s two-dimensional structure, above all, minimises the slightest of defects that it might possess and has made contributions in terms of quality beyond strength, making it an extremely appealing choice for the energy field. In addition to this, graphene also helps induce traits that are desirable in other combinational materials that can be used in conjunction with graphene to improve the functionality of the batteries. C6 energy focuses on making its contribution to a sustainable energy space through its graphene batteries, which are the most suitable replacement for lithium-ion batteries.