Batteries
Graphene has the potential of becoming a new source of improvement on batteries. Most batteries are made with silicon due to its high conductivity rate but graphene is the world's best conductor of heat and electricity and would therefore be far more effective. In fact, it can easily be up to 5x more effective than lithium batteries. Through this wonder material, companies such as Samsung plan to make the swap to graphene batteries as it proves far superior in the near future. With the capabilities of graphene, silicon and other types of batteries will be obsolete and with graphene batteries worrying about power will be a thing of the past.
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Photovoltaic Cells
Photovoltaic cells are specialized semiconductor diodes that converts visible light into direct current, or in other words materials that allow the light from the sun to be converted into electricity. Since graphene is the best conductor known to man, offering a high electron mobility and offers low levels of light absorption at a rate of 2.7% of white light means that graphene can be a potential replacement to ITO or silicon. The potential lays in the price, while silicon cells are quite costly to produce, graphene cells cost significantly less to make due to it being just carbon but in a specific atomic structure as well as being 1 atom thick. Graphene also has the potential to be just as capable or even more so than ITO and silicon. When graphene turns light energy into power it actually absorbs a proton and generates multiple electrons where as silicon is only able to produce a photon for every electron produced. meaning that a lot more potential energy is lost due to heat when silicon cells produce power compared to graphene cells. Graphene is also able to work on all wavelengths of light when producing electricity which is superior to silicon which can only create electricity from certain wavelengths. Graphene only has one problem, graphene does not have a band gap meaning it can't be switched on and off. But with future development and research, graphene will out do both silicon and ITO. However that does not mean in a few decades, as a matter of fact studies show that creating graphene with a band gap is indeed possible and it will only be months until we have achieved the basic level. With the flexibility and versatility of graphene not only can we use it to create a better tomorrow but a more cost-efficient and Eco-friendly future as well.
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Supercapacitors
There's a problem, with rising energy demands. Scientists can't create batteries powerful enough to keep up with the demand. Currently we can't hold enough power to supply the demand, batteries have gotten too big and can only output electricity at a slow rate. Meanwhile capacitors can output energy at a much faster rate with the drawback of it not being able to carry as much power. With the introduction of graphene, we have opened up to new possibilities for energy storage, with high charge and discharge rates, which can be made cheaply. Supercapacitors are able to hold hundreds of times the amount of electrical charge as standard capacitors, and are a replacement to large batteries as well as working in very low temperature. Due to graphene's properties, it being the best conductor of electricity as well as its stability, scientists believe that graphene based or hybrid supercapacitors will eventually be utilized in a number of ways. Due to its expansive surface area, extremely light nature, and benefit of being ecologically friendly due to it being composed of carbon, graphene is the way to go!
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Electric Cars
With graphene, electric cars in the near future may have a better way to keep the charge and even charge faster than what we have today. By using graphene in electric car batteries, companies can upgrade their models with more advanced charging rates. Electric cars are meant as a greener alternative and an effort to reduce pollution, with graphene batteries already being a more ecological choice, electric cars may be seen as the stronger choice in vehicle types to an even broader audience.
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