LinkNotes: Graphene-Based Super Batteries

2008-09-21

Graphene-Based Super Batteries

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have developed a new class of carbon material and demonstrated their performance in an ultracapacitor cell as a way to store electrical energy.

The problem of storage

Clipped from:
Researchers Announce Nanotech Material Breakthrough Could Double Energy Storage Capacity for Renewables ( nanotech, energy+storage,ultracapacitor,)

It’s almost become cliche about renewable energy: the problem of “when the wind doesn’t blow or the sun doesn’t shine”. Storage is key, and according to the U.S. Department of Energy, remains a principal challenge in rolling out solar and wind energy technology.

Graphene may be a key element in meeting that challenge.

Say Rod Ruoff. a mechanical engineering professor and physical chemist at the University:

“Through such a device, electrical charge can be rapidly stored on the graphene sheets, and released from them as well for the delivery of electrical current and, thus, electrical power. There are reasons to think that the ability to store electrical charge can be about double that of current commercially used materials. We are working to see if that prediction will be borne out in the laboratory”

Science News

Clipped from: Breakthrough In Energy Storage: New Carbon Material Shows Promise Of Storing Large Quantities Of Renewable Electrical Energy

Breakthrough In Energy Storage: New Carbon Material Shows Promise Of Storing Large Quantities Of Renewable Electrical Energy

ScienceDaily (Sep. 17, 2008) — Engineers and scientists at The University of Texas at Austin have achieved a breakthrough in the use of a one-atom thick structure called "graphene" as a new carbon-based material for storing electrical charge in ultracapacitor devices, perhaps paving the way for the massive installation of renewable energies such as wind and solar power.

This image of a single suspended sheet of graphene shows individual carbon atoms (yellow) on a honeycomb lattice. (Credit: U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

Technology

Clipped from: Graphene-Based Ultracapacitors

Graphene-Based Ultracapacitors

Meryl D. Stoller, Sungjin Park, Yanwu Zhu, Jinho An, and Rodney S. Ruoff^*

Department of Mechanical Engineering and Texas Materials Institute, University of Texas at Austin, One University Station C2200, Austin, Texas, 78712-029

Research

Clipped from: Nanoscience and Technology Lab

Welcome to the homepage of the Nanoscience and Technology lab at The University of Texas, home of the Ruoff Group.

Clipped from: YouTube - NanoSize Me
This video highlights some current and anticipated applications of nanoscale science and engages students in exploring the counterintuitive properties of some specific nanoparticles.

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