Posted on 07/15/2011 10:34:12 AM PDT by Red Badger
A combination of two ordinary materials – graphite and water – could produce energy storage systems that perform on par with lithium ion batteries, but recharge in a matter of seconds and have an almost indefinite lifespan.
Dr. Dan Li, of the Monash University Department of Materials Engineering, and his research team have been working with a material called graphene, which could form the basis of the next generation of ultrafast energy storage systems.
“Once we can properly manipulate this material, your iPhone, for example, could charge in a few seconds, or possibly faster.” said Dr. Li.
Graphene is the result of breaking down graphite, a cheap, readily available material commonly used in pencils, into layers one atom thick. In this form, it has remarkable properties.
Graphene is strong, chemically stable, an excellent conductor of electricity and, importantly, has an extremely high surface area.
Dr. Li said these qualities make graphene highly suitable for energy storage applications.
“The reason graphene isn’t being used everywhere is that these very thin sheets, when stacked into a usable macrostructure, immediately bond together, reforming graphite. When graphene restacks, most of the surface area is lost and it doesn’t behave like graphene anymore.”
Now, Dr. Li and his team have discovered the key to maintaining the remarkable properties of separate graphene sheets: water. Keeping graphene moist – in gel form – provides repulsive forces between the sheets and prevents re-stacking, making it ready for real-world application.
“The technique is very simple and can easily be scaled up. When we discovered it, we thought it was unbelievable. We’re taking two basic, inexpensive materials – water and graphite – and making this new nanomaterial with amazing properties,” said Dr. Li.
When used in energy devices, graphene gel significantly outperforms current carbon-based technology, both in terms of the amount of charge stored and how fast the charges can be delivered.
Dr. Li said the benefits of developing this new nanotechnology extend beyond consumer electronics.
“High-speed, reliable and cost-effective energy storage systems are critical for the future viability of electricity from renewable resources. These systems are also the key to large-scale adoption of electrical vehicles.
“Graphene gel is also showing promise for use in water purification membranes, biomedical devices and sensors.”
I hope that it works, but will be skeptical until they market a real product.
If it shows real promise, the enviro-whackos will dream up some reason to ban it.
Unless your graphene storage device has run dry.
this story isn’t cutting edge the industry is way past this...
http://automotiveiq.wordpress.com/2011/03/31/brake-energy-recuperation-strategy-systems/
this is in active production on class 7-8 delivery trucks.
I think it’s Coke that hes a fleet of these.
How many times per mile do you hit your brakes coming across the flats vs how many inches do all your shock absorbers react to the bumps in the highway?
>>how many inches<
That would be a total of up and down measurements.
One of my vendors on the railcar R&D project had a brake shoe force measurement device that operates by scavenging vibration with a piezo-electric device to power the force sensor, a small PIC microcontroller and an ANT transceiver. My railcars use a Timken bearing generator that charges a 12 volt deep cycle battery to run a PC104 stack with a GPS, cellphone (1x-RTT) for internet access, 802.11b with OLSR mesh network and a CAN interface to control a network of data acquisition PIC devices. Energy scavenging is a viable way to operate these devices on freight rail cars.
So what happens if you have a gigantic graphene battery fully charged and you suddenly extract all the water?
I was aware that these type units were in R&D. Would it be possible to operate a refrigeration unit solely by scavenging vibration?
graphene. Thanks Red Badger.
And then there’s Giraphene which is my favorite animal.
Let’s convert our entire carbon-based political leadership into pure carbon!
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