A systematic study of the effect of graphene on the properties and behavior of its nanocomposites for energy storage applications
There is no doubt that one of the great challenges in the twenty-first century is solving the energy storage problem. Regarding emerging ecological concerns and modern society, it is now essential that new, low-cost and environmentally friendly energy storage systems should be found. Take it into deeply consideration, the performance of these devices depends intimately on the properties of their electrode materials. Innovative materials chemistry lies at the heart of the advances that have already been made in energy storage fields such as supercapacitors and rechargeable lithium ion battery.[1] Among all the active electrode materials, Graphene, a two-dimensional honeycomb structure of graphite of sp2-bonded carbon in a hexagonal lattice, is an effective and promising candidate among electroactive materials due to its outstanding properties of high electrical conductance (104 S/cm2), mechanical strength, and large specific surface area (2630 m2/g) which are complimentary and benefit to the mechanical stability, specific capacitance and processability of other nanocomposites.[2-3] In particular, graphene-based micro supercapacitors (MSCs) with in-plane interdigital geometry can sufficiently utilize the unique features of graphene, like thin 2D structure and high surface area, for energy storage.[4-5] In this project, we aim to explore a systematic study of the effect of graphene on the properties and behavior of its nanocomposites for energy storage applications. The purpose of this research project is to obtain Graphene-based nanocomposites (such as conducting polymers, transitional metal oxides or sulfides and some carbon materials) as electrochemical electrode for supercapacitors and Lithium ion Battery. The electrode materials will be prepared by some chemistry synthesized methods and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and some other measurements. Electrochemical datas will be investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), charge-discharge measurements (GCD) and electrochemical impedance measurements (EIS).
REFERENCES:
1 A. S. Aricò, P. Bruce, B. Scrosati, J. M. Tarascon and W. V. Schalkwijk, Nanostructured materials for advanced energy conversion and storage devices, Nat. Mater. 4 (2005) 366.
2 V.S. Reddy Channu, R. Holze and B. Rambabu, Synthesis and characterization of H2V3O8/Graphene for Secondary Batteries, Proceedings of the 45th Power Sources Conference (2012) 53.
3 V.S. Channu, R. Bobba and R. Holze, Graphite and graphene oxide electrodes for lithium ion batteries, Coll.Surf.A 436 (2013) 245.
4 M.F. El-Kady, R.B. Kaner, Nat. Commun. 4 (2013) 1475.
5 J.J. Yoo, K. Balakrishnan, J.S. Huang, V. Meunier, B.G. Sumpter, A. Srivastava, M. Conway, A.L.M. Reddy, J. Yu, R. Vajtai, P.M. Ajayan, Nano Lett. 11 (2011) 1423.