The multifunctional role of graphene in automotive lithium-ion batteries

Abstract:
As electric vehicles constantly raise global attention in sustainable development, enormous efforts have been made to improve lithium-ion batteries' capacity, charging speed, and lifetime. Graphene is a promising material widely utilized in batteries due to its unique properties. It has been exploited in various parts of lithium-ion batteries, including anodes, encapsulating materials, cathode substrates, and thermal resistors. With the introduction of graphene, as-obtained batteries display enhanced performance in capacity, efficiency, and cyclability. As a result, some companies have launched electric vehicles equipped with graphene-based batteries. Despite the bright prospect of implementing graphene in lithium-ion batteries, some issues such as prohibitive costs remain to be solved. This paper covers graphene's exceptional properties, multiple production methods, wide applications in lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. We hope to inspire further studies in this rapidly growing field.