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

• Published in: Sustainable energy & fuels Vol. 6; no. 18; pp. 4311 - 4321
• Main Authors: Petnikota, Shaikshavali, Koch, Daniel, Imran, Muhammad, Buha, Joka, Panda, Jaya Kumar, Akbari Garakani, Mohammad, Marasco, Luigi, Gamucci, Andrea, Bonaccorso, Francesco, Pellegrini, Vittorio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Royal Society of Chemistry 13.09.2022
• Subjects: Aluminum; Ambient temperature; Anions; Carboxymethyl cellulose; Carboxymethylcellulose; Cathodes; Cellulose; Coatings; Current density; Electrode materials; Electrodes; Ethanol; Fabrication; Graphene; Industrial applications; Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose; Spray coating; Theoretical analysis
• ISSN: 2398-4902; 2398-4902
• DOI: 10.1039/d2se00532h

We report herein wet-jet milling produced graphene (GWJM) as a high performing aluminium battery (AB) cathode material. The electrodes of GWJM were fabricated in an ecofriendly and highly scalable manner by a spray-coating approach using inexpensive solvents (ethanol-water) and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose binder. GWJM as a cathode of AB delivered a reversible capacity of 57 mA h g −1 at a current density of 1 A g −1 during the first cycle that increased to 72 mA h g −1 after 10 000 cycles under continuous operation. This capacity corresponds to a volumetric capacity of 245 mA h L −1 and an energy density of 105 W h kg −1 . The combined structural and theoretical analysis reveals that such an increase in the capacity is accomplished by the stage-4 insertion of AlCl 4 − anions into GWJM. The electrodes exhibited a very good rate performance of 72, 35, 22, 74, and 135 mA h g −1 while discharging at current densities of 1, 2, 3, 1, and 0.1 A g −1 , respectively, even after 10 000 cycles. The capacity was further increased to 90−175 mA h g −1 when the ambient temperature was raised to 70 °C. The spray-coated graphene electrodes could be easily adapted for industrial applications owing to their simple and highly scalable fabrication, superior cycling stability as well as high rate capability. We report herein wet-jet milling produced graphene (GWJM) as a high performing aluminium battery (AB) cathode material.