Graphene enabled next generation battery technology

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The project aims to develop a graphene enable sodium ion battery. There are several markets for rechargeable batteriesand these can the segmented into 1. The 3C or consumer electronic Market, 2. Power tools and applicances 3.Automotives, 4. Industrial including stationary energy stroage. SHARP sell products in all of these markets excepting theautomotive market. The sodium ion battery (NIB) is being developed as a low cost alternative rechargeable batterytechnology. It is expected that NIB could directly replace lithium ion batteries (LIB) in all of the established and emergingmarkets and lead acid batteries (PbA) in the low cost applications. The direct substitution of a highly developed andoptimised LIB technology for established applications will be time consuming and difficult to displace. SHARP areinterested in the emerging markets, such as stationary energy storage, where there is no currently established energystorage technology and the development of new technologies will involve demonstrators and hence new technologies canalso be established. This project will focus on developing electrodes for a new NIB technology for longer life and highervolumetric densities specifically for residential and community energy storage systems. In particular for coupling PV localrenewable energy generation sources with local energy storage systems. The advantages of this system are to provide agreater self sufficiency to consumers, and to buffer an intermittent energy generation thus providing a greater stablitybetween the grid and the property.Current alternative technologies for stationary energy storage include lead acid batteries (PbA) and lithium ion (LIB). Whilstlead acid batteries are significantly lower cost than lithium ion their life-time is significantly lower, therefore the life timecosts of these technologies are similar. Sodium ion batteries (NIB)offer a lower cost alternative to LIB however NIBbatteries have not yet been commercialised as further development is required to optimise cycle life and performanceproperties, specifically for the stationary energy storage markets. The addition of graphene into the electrodes is expectedto improve the electronic transport properties of the electrodes improving the current distribution, the packing density, andhence the volumetric energy and performance properties of the cell.