Good News for Berkwood Resources – Graphite used in Super Batteries.

Sep 19, 2018

Berkwood Resources Ltd. (www.berkwoodresources.com) will benefit from a New Fast-Charging, Everlasting Battery Powered from Graphene.

A new, flexible energy-storage technology that could soon replace the batteries in our cars, phones and more has been invented by Swinburne University researchers.

Han Lin’s new super battery (actually, a supercapacitor) can store as much energy per kilogram as a lithium battery, but charges in minutes, or even seconds, and uses carbon instead of expensive lithium.

The majority of batteries used in Australia are lead-acid batteries. These have three main disadvantages: they can take hours to charge; they have a limited lifespan for charging and discharging; and they’re bad for the environment, therefore requiring special, expensive disposal processes.

Han’s supercapacitor charges extremely fast, can be charged and discharged millions of times, and is environmentally friendly.

Previously, a major problem with supercapacitors has been their low capacity to store energy. But Han has overcome this problem by using sheets of a form of carbon known as graphene, which has a very large surface area available to store energy.

Large-scale production of the graphene that would be needed to produce these supercapacitors was once unachievable, but using a 3D printer, Han is able to produce graphene at a low cost.

And because the technology is extremely flexible and thin (as thin as ordinary printing paper) the new super batteries could potentially be built into clothing, or worn as a watch strap, to achieve a wearable power supply.

Han presented his research at Fresh Science, a national program that helps early-career researchers find and share their stories of discovery. Fresh Science is in its 19th year and has kick-started the science communications skills of over 400 Australian scientists. In 2016, Fresh Science ran in every mainland state, with over 100 early-career researchers nominating for Fresh Science in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Sydney.

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