Spray-coated few-layer graphene as an aluminium battery cathode

Abstract

We report here wet-jet-milling produced graphene (GWJM) as high performing aluminium battery (AB) cathode material. The electrodes of GWJM are fabricated in an eco-friendly and highly scalable manner by a...

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“…For instance, Al is the most abundant metal (82,000 ppm) as compared to Li content of 18 ppm on the earth’s crust. Another important aspect of AB is that Al featured three-electron redox properties (Al 3+ /Al), which may sustain very high theoretical gravimetric (C g ~ 2980 mA h g −1 ) and volumetric (C v ~ 8046 mA h cm −3 ) capacities [ 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 ]. These values are some of the highest known for battery materials as compared in Figure 5 and Table 2 [ 67 ].…”

“…Most of the ABs utilize AlCl 3 -ionic liquid (IL) electrolytes that bear high autoignition temperatures (>300 °C) and ensure further safety as an in-built feature when compared with hyperactive and less ambient temperature tolerant LIBs (<60 °C) [ 68 ]. Furthermore, the IL electrolytes endure over several hundred thousand cycles without any chemical changes [ 10 , 65 , 69 , 70 ]. ABs could be a better choice for stationary applications owing to their low flammability and longer lifespan similar to lead-acid batteries [ 65 , 66 , 68 ] Furthermore, cheaper economic prospects of Al (US$~2.4/kg vs. US$~75.0/kg for LiOH·H 2 O; for pure Li price is ~50× more) [ 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 ] comparable to gasoline (US$~1.57/kg; US$~4.467/gallon) [ 75 ] are favorable for developing electric vehicles (EVs) those eventually drives away our society from heavily dependent on fossil fuel transportation needs.…”

“…Furthermore, the IL electrolytes endure over several hundred thousand cycles without any chemical changes [ 10 , 65 , 69 , 70 ]. ABs could be a better choice for stationary applications owing to their low flammability and longer lifespan similar to lead-acid batteries [ 65 , 66 , 68 ] Furthermore, cheaper economic prospects of Al (US$~2.4/kg vs. US$~75.0/kg for LiOH·H 2 O; for pure Li price is ~50× more) [ 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 ] comparable to gasoline (US$~1.57/kg; US$~4.467/gallon) [ 75 ] are favorable for developing electric vehicles (EVs) those eventually drives away our society from heavily dependent on fossil fuel transportation needs. These important advantages highlight AB as low-cost energy storage devices with high capacity and improved safety [ 76 ].…”

“…The two half-cell reactions taking place on the anode and cathode sides are shown in Equations (1) and (2), respectively. Firstly, on the anode side, electrochemical deposition and dissolution processes occur between Al metal and electrolyte take place as described in Equation (1); secondly, at the cathode (graphite or graphene, C n ) side, where intercalation/deintercalation processes of AlCl 4 − anions take place during the charge/discharge process as described in Equation (2) [ 64 , 65 , 66 ]. The operating principle of a typical AB is shown in Figure 6 .…”

“…The low capacity of ABs mainly arises from the larger anionic size of charge carrier AlCl 4 − (6.09 Å) which is twice the d -spacing of graphite (3.35 Å). In addition, the most commonly studied cathodes such as graphite and few-layered graphene (FLG) are prone to undergo huge volume expansions (up to 600%) upon AlCl 4 ¯ insertion that eventually lead to cathode failure [ 65 , 66 ]. FLG manages such failure but still undergoes continuous inconvenient structural changes over long-term cycling [ 65 ].…”