Graphene-like materials created to boost energy transition – 2024-07-13 20:55:46

by times news cr

2024-07-13 20:55:46

Scientists have managed to optimize the creation of graphitic materials, similar to graphene, which will be very useful in promoting the energy transition.

Researchers from the Institute of Materials Science of Madrid (ICMM), part of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), are leading an international study in which they have managed to optimize the preparation of solids with a graphitic structure using sepiolite, a very abundant clay in the Tajo basin. The work proposes the formation mechanism of these materials, whose production is scalable in the field of electronics and their almost infinite applications in the field of energy transition, such as their use for lithium battery electrodes, hydrogen storage or electrochemical sensors.

If graphene is one of the most sought-after materials due to, among other things, its high conductivity and resistance, graphitic materials are also highly desirable in that they share many of the same characteristics as graphene, albeit with an imperfect internal structure. Although obtaining these graphitic elements is simpler than conventional graphene production, this process usually requires processes at very high temperatures, which leads to long work times and significant energy expenditure. The new study provides an optimized solution to these problems.

“We have used different experimental synthesis strategies at relatively low temperatures to obtain these graphene-like materials using a microporous sepiolite clay,” explains Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky, a researcher at the ICMM and one of the authors of the study. The team has chosen this material (sepiolite) because of its abundance in the Iberian Peninsula and its low cost, but also because they have seen that the clay itself imposes the ordered structure of the compounds of this new material.

For this work, sucrose – table sugar – has been used as a model, but it can be extended to any type of biomass. “If you heat sugar and make caramel, when you heat-treat that material you do not form graphitic compounds, but with sepiolite as a support, it imposes that internal structure,” explains Ruiz-Hitzky. “When you heat the source material in the presence of the support, compounds are formed that are absorbed and they are the ones that reorganize until they give the structure of a non-perfect graphene,” adds Margarita Darder, researcher at the ICMM and co-author of the work.

Sepiolite also makes the process sustainable. “We managed to use less energy thanks to it,” adds Pilar Aranda, a scientist at the ICMM and co-author. Not only that, but this result combines the best of both source materials: “It is easier to handle, it has a porosity that can be used for successive applications since it is both an adsorbent and a conductor,” describes Ruiz-Hitzky. “It is so well structured that, even though it has traces of sepiolite that does not conduct electricity, the material is conductive, and it is suitable for most applications,” adds Aranda.

When it comes to mentioning applications for this material, the list seems endless: “Obviously it is not a perfect graphene, but it can be used for lithium battery electrodes, supercapacitors, or even for hydrogen storage,” say the three. “We have also done tests for electrochemical sensors or sensors that respond to pressure in motion. All of these topics are fundamental for energy and are sustainable and economical,” concludes Ruiz-Hitzky.

This work has been prepared in collaboration with the University of Aveiro (Portugal) and has been part of the Doctoral Thesis carried out by Ana Barra between both institutions.

The study is titled “Graphene-like materials supported on sepiolite clay synthesized at relatively low temperature” and has been published in the academic journal Carbon.

Source: Science News.com / Amazings.com).

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