Carbon Nano Forms and Applications

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Cutting-edge coverage of carbon nanoscale science

This definitive volume offers an in-depth look at the unique properties and potential applications of carbon nanomaterials (CNM). Beginning with a description of various CNM types, Carbon Nanoforms and Applications addresses the need to develop a new classification of carbon. After discussing the fundamental physics, the book covers techniques for CNM synthesis and characterization. This authoritative resource then provides comprehensive information on the physico-chemical and biosystems applications of CNMs.

Carbon Nanoforms and Applications covers:

• Theoretical aspects of CNM
• Synthesis and characterization of CNM
• Electron field emission
• Fuel cells
• Electric double-layer capacitors
• Hydrogen storage
• Lithium-ion batteries
• Carbon solar cells
• Microwave absorption
• Carbon nanosensors
• Biosystems
• Cancer treatment
• Nano-enabled drug delivery
• Antimicrobial properties
• Tissue fabrication
• Neurogenesis
• Food and cosmetics

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New Carbon Based Materials for Electrochemical Energy Storage Systems: Batteries, Supercapacitors and Fuel Cells

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For the first time Argonne National Laboratory opened it doors in the USA to host researchers from both European and former Warsaw Pact countries to address the latest research on the development, synthesis, characterization and use of advanced carbonaceous materials for electrochemical energy storage systems. This meeting was attended by key scientists from both western and post-socialist universities and companies with a goal to open channels for future collaboration.

The energy storage systems covered during the meeting included: metal air primary and rechargeable batteries, supercapacitors, fuel cells and lithium-ion batteries. The latest developments on the manufacture of graphites, carbons, and nano-materials and their outlook for use in power sources were also presented .

The use of stable conducting polymers and expanded graphite in the cathode of zinc-air batteries was introduced. The role that new forms of carbons play in aqueous asymmetric capacitors was highlighted. The enhancement of cathode performance through the optimization of the carbon in the positive electrode and the use of metal-carbon composites as active materials in lithium-ion batteries were discussed. Also reviewed were recent developments in the use of hard carbons and surface treated graphites as electrode materials. Updates were also provided on the use of lithium-ion batteries for hybrid electric vehicles and power tools.

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Carbons for Electrochemical Energy Storage and Conversion Systems

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As carbons are widely used in energy storage and conversion systems, there is a rapidly growing need for an updated book that describes their physical, chemical, and electrochemical properties. Edited by those responsible for initiating the most progressive conference on Carbon for Energy Storage and Environment Protection (CESEP), this book undoubtedly fills this need.

Written in collaboration with prominent scientists in carbon science and its energy-related applications, Carbons for Electrochemical Energy Storage and Conversion Systems provides the most complete and up-to-date coverage available on carbon materials for application in electrochemical energy storage and conversion. The text studies different carbon materials and their detailed physicochemical properties and provides an in-depth review of their wide-ranging applications—including lithium-ion batteries, supercapacitors, fuel cells, and primary cells.

Recognizing that most scientists involved with these applications are materials scientists rather than electrochemists, the text begins with a review of electrochemical principles and methods. It then covers the different forms of traditional sp² carbons, introduces novel techniques for preparing advanced carbons, and describes the main physicochemical properties which control the electrochemical behavior of carbons. The second half of the book focuses on research and provides a wealth of original information on industrial applications.

Complete with an abundance of figures, tables, equations, and case studies, this book is the ideal one-stop reference for researchers, engineers, and students working on developing the carbon-based energy storage and conversion systems of tomorrow.

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Notebook battery maker gets charged up for cars

The lithium-ion battery maker has raised $45 million in a third round of funding. It also has signed its second contract manufacturing deal, an agreement with China’s GP Batteries, which will give it the capacity to churn out a million batteries a month by the end of 2008. In all, Boston-Power has raised more than $68 million in funding.

Hewlett-Packard plans to release a notebook sporting one of Boston’s Sonata batteries this year, and other large computer makers are currently in the final testing phases with the Sonata, Boston-Power CEO Christina Lampe-Onnerud said in an interview. (Last year, HP was still testing the battery.)

Boston-Power also has hatched plans to move into making large format lithium-ion batteries that could be used in plug-in hybrid cars. The current Sonata batteries for notebooks are based on small format cells, and each cell provides about 4.4 amp hours of power. Conventional notebook batteries provide about 2.6 amp hours. (Amp hours measure how much power a battery can store.)

Plug-in hybrids require batteries with cells that can provide 5 to 10 amp hours. Boston Power, in its labs, has come up with batteries that get into this range, but they are still in the experimental stage. (A battery for a plug-in will also contain far more cells than a typical six- to nine-cell notebook battery.)

“We have solved a fundamental problem for large cells,” Lampe-Onnerud said. “We will take the same time to make sure it is fine-tuned for the appropriate market.”

Boston-Power is one of a number of relatively new companies trying to improve the humble battery, particularly the now familiar lithium-ion ones. A favorite of notebook makers and consumer electronics manufacturers, lithium-ion batteries can hold more energy than competing types of batteries.

Unfortunately, they also come with a glaring side effect. They can short on occasion, resulting in a “runaway thermal reaction” in industry parlance. In layman’s terms, that’s a fire or an explosion. Recalls in 2006 cost Sony millions of dollars.

Some companies have tinkered with the internal chemistry of the batteries. Notebooks contain lithium cobalt batteries. Altair Nanotechnologies and EnerDel have devised lithium titanate batteries, while others have come up with lithium potassium batteries. The change in chemistry lowers the risk of explosions, but also lowers the energy density. Lower energy density directly leads to lower mileage or runtime on laptops. Others are looking at getting rid of lithium altogether and switching to a rechargeable zinc battery.

By contrast, Boston-Power has largely kept the internal chemistry the same and instead fine-tuned the other elements that make up a battery. (Lampe-Onnerud and other members of the Boston-Power executive team have worked in the lithium-ion industry for years.) The can, or outside casing around the battery cells, on the Sonata is made from a metal alloy that is stronger than the iron cans used with conventional notebook batteries and, thus, will remain intact in the case of a thermal reaction or fire, according to the company.

Boston-Power also spent a lot of time on the interrupt system, which prompts the battery to shut down permanently if there is danger of a thermal reaction. The company can’t guarantee the batteries will never have problems, but it has added safety features not seen in ordinary batteries.

In addition, Boston-Power works closely with its contract manufacturers, Lampe-Onnerud said, and has developed a process monitoring system that collects more accurate data about each battery as it goes through manufacturing and assembly.

“Some factories still use very, very rudimental quality measures,” she said.

At the same time, the Sonata will outperform conventional batteries, the company said. It will recharge from depleted to 80 percent capacity in about 30 minutes. The Sonata also will provide like-new performance for three years, according to the company. Most notebook batteries begin to degrade after three to six months.

And runtime? Lampe-Onnerud said she gets four hours out of the conventionally sized Sonata plugged into her notebook on a regular basis in ordinary conditions. The power meters on most notebooks say they get four hours, but in reality the runtime is shorter than that.

There is a catch, however. The Sonata will sell at a premium. Notebook makers always try to minimize component costs. Manufacturers also tend to be skittish when it comes to trying out products from start-ups.

Nanocomposite Said To Boost Lithium Batteries By 5X

Nanocomposites aim to boost the capacity of lithium ion batteries by five-times by hanging nanometer-sized silicon particles on trees of carbon black that self-assemble into porous micron-sized spheres, which increase an electrode’s surface area with interconnected internal channels.

High-performance lithium ion batteries today use anodes made from carbon (graphite). Silicon has been proposed as a substitute for graphite since it offers a theoretical improvement of 10-times in capacity over graphite, but so far prototypes have proven too unstable for creating lithium batteries with a long lifetime, according to professor Gleb Yushin at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

The problem, according to Yushin, is that silicon particles crack when they are formed at the same granularity of graphite particles—about 15 to 20 microns. The new nanocomposite material solves that problem by hanging 30 nanometer sized silicon particles on trees of carbon black which then self-assemble into porous spheres about 10-to-30 microns in diameter. The resulting electrode remains stable due to the durable carbon-superstructure that prevents cracking, but benefits from the increased surface area afforded by the smaller silicon nanoparticles.

Common chemical vapor deposition processes allow the new hybrid silicon-carbon electrodes to be mass produced economically, according to Yushin. He also claimes that because the tiny silicon nanoparticles are permanently attached to the micron-sized carbon black trees, they avoid the health hazards of processes that require handling of nanoscale particles.

So far Georgia Tech has fabricated experimental anode electrodes, which it is testing for use in standard manufacturing processes for lithium batteries. Their prototype has survived over one hundred recharge cycles without any degradation, leading the researchers to predict they will last for thousands of recharges.

Besides Yushin, other Georgia Tech researchers involved in the project include Alexandre Magasinki, Patrick Dixon, Benjamin Hertzberg and Alexander Alexeev, along with Alexander Kvit from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Igor Luzinov from Clemson University, and Jorge Ayala from Superior Graphite (Chicago).

Funding was provided by a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to Superior Graphite and Streamline Nanotechnologies, Inc.

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