The Silicon Review ^Asia

This new development promises to create high-value Graphene from used dry cells batteries. Few researchers from Visvevaraya National Institute of Technology have developed a new method which can produce Graphene from graphite rods in discarded batteries.

Graphene can be widely used in applications like creating solar cells, light-emitting diodes, smart windows,and touch panels. Graphenesupercapacitorsserve as energy storage devices, and they are capable of delivering fast charging and pose a longer lifespan than traditional electrolytic batteries.

The allotrope of carbon is made up of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. It conducts heat and electricity and is the strongest material to be ever tested by mankind. Production of Graphene is expensive as it is produced from Graphite and it has few environmental impacts. Typically, there is graphite rod at the center of dry cell batteries and serves as a cathode or positive electrode.

As per Ajeet Kumar Srivastav, the team leader in the research, the team has achieved 88 percent yield of Graphene from a single graphite rod. It can be scaled up to the industrial level.

The researchers have started to use Graphene produced from batteries by functionalizing it with metal oxide nanostructures for different applications.

The research team consisted of- Ajeet Kumar Srivastav, DR Peshwe, Suresh Bandi and Vikram Hastak. The research work has been published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials and Bulletin of Material Science.