Graphene: A Path-Breaking Discovery for Energy Storage and Sustainability

Abstract

The global energy situation requires the efficient use of resources and the development of new materials and processes for meeting current energy demand. Traditional materials have been explored to large extent for use in energy saving and storage devices. Graphene, being a path-breaking discovery of the present era, has become one of the most-researched materials due to its fascinating properties, such as high tensile strength, half-integer quantum Hall effect and excellent electrical/thermal conductivity. This paper presents an in-depth review on the exploration of deploying diverse derivatives and morphologies of graphene in various energy-saving and environmentally friendly applications. Use of graphene in lubricants has resulted in improvements to anti-wear characteristics and reduced frictional losses. This comprehensive survey facilitates the researchers in selecting the appropriate graphene derivative(s) and their compatibility with various materials to fabricate high-performance composites for usage in solar cells, fuel cells, supercapacitor applications, rechargeable batteries and automotive sectors.

Keywords: batteries; fuel cells; graphene; nanolubricants; renewable energy; solar cells; supercapacitors; sustainability.

Figure 1

Correlation between graphene characteristics and their applications in energy solutions.

Figure 2

Ragone scheme showing energy loss owing to internal dissipation and leakage losses for sufficiently high and low power (reproduced from [46] with permission from Elsevier).

Figure 3

Schematic diagram of a hybrid supercapacitor [92].

Figure 4

Ragone plot for energy storage devices.

Figure 5

Graphene oxide-compatible solvents for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (reproduced from [167] with permission from Elsevier).

Figure 6

Scheme of the basic anatomy and functioning principle of a DMFC (reproduced from [199] with permission from Elsevier).

Figure 7

Solar cells’ efficiency reported based on several technologies (reproduced from [224] with permission from the Elsevier).

Figure 8

Schematic illustration of graphene and its derivatives in polymer solar cells (reproduced from [245] with permission from Elsevier).

Figure 9

Nanofluids and nano-lubricants research areas and methodology (reproduced from [13] with permission from Elsevier).

Figure 10

Schematic illustration of different lubrication mechanisms of nanoparticles [288]. (a) Polishing mechanism, (b) rolling mechanism, (c) self-repairing mechanism, (d) tribo-film mechanism.

Figure 11

Multimaterial lightweight vehicles MMLV [326].