Graphene ribbons could boost efficiency of Li-ion batteries

A team from Rice University found that cathodes made from the material could be charged and discharged in just 20 seconds while still retaining more than 90% of their initial capacity after more than 1,000 cycles. "This is the direction battery research is going, not only for something with high energy density but also high power density," said materials scientist Pulickel Ajayan. "It's somewhere between a battery and a supercapacitor." The ribbons were made using relatively abundant and cheap materials, using a simple hydrothermal process which the researchers believe will be easily scalable. "We think this is real progress in the development of cathode materials for high power Li-ion batteries," Ajayan noted. "The ribbons' ability to be dispersed in a solvent might also make them suitable as a component in paintable batteries."