02. Graphite and graphene in battery electrodes

Project description

Carbon plays a crucial role in enabling batteries, supercapacitors and fuel cells. As a conductive additive it increases the power delivered by batteries. As an active material, it stores charge via adsorption on its large surface area or insertion into its crystalline bulk. As a result, there is an ever-growing demand for more carbon resources. In this project, we envisage to design sustainable battery chemistries based on natural graphite and bio-based carbon materials. To achieve this goal, we combine a range of spectroscopic and electrochemical techniques to fathom how the surface and bulk of carbon materials can impact their performance in batteries. By tailoring the surface and morphology of natural graphite, we aim to boost its ability to store charge with a higher efficiency than current state-of-the-art negative electrodes. In addition, we are looking into the possibility of replacing carbon black with micronized natural graphite as a conductive additive in cathodes. Another research thrust in the project will focus on the fabrication of light-weight graphene-metal composites that can potentially be used as current collectors in batteries.

Organisations involved in the project

• Uppsala University
• RISE
• Leading Edge Materials
• Graphmatech

Description in a picture

Contact person

Maria Hahlin
Uppsala University
maria.hahlin@kemi.uu.se