Using hydrogen-treated graphene nanofoam to enhance lithium ion batteries

Using hydrogen-treated #graphene nanofoam to enhance #lithiumionbatteries
(#Nanowerk News) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists have found that lithium ion batteries operate longer and faster when their electrodes are treated with hydrogen.
Lithium ion batteries ( #LIB s) are a class of rechargeable battery types in which lithium ions move from the negative electrode to the positive electrode during discharge and back when charging.
The growing demand for energy storage emphasizes the urgent need for higher-performance batteries. Several key characteristics of lithium ion battery performance -- capacity, voltage and energy density -- are ultimately determined by the binding between lithium ions and the electrode material. Subtle changes in the structure, chemistry and shape of an electrode can significantly affect how strongly lithium ions bond to it.
Through experiments and calculations, the Livermore team discovered that hydrogen-treated graphene nanofoam electrodes in the LIBs show higher capacity and faster transport.
“These findings provide qualitative insights in helping the design of #graphene -based materials for high-power electrodes,” said Morris Wang, an LLNL materials scientist and co-author of a paper (link is external) appearing in Nov. 5 edition of Nature Scientific Reports ("Universal roles of hydrogen in electrochemical performance of graphene: high rate capacity and atomistic origins").

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