Amazing graphene released to add new dimension to renewable energy transition

Twenty years after its discovery by two researchers from the University of Manchester, its application in this area is still limited because it is complex and expensive research processesbut many ongoing projects, some of which have achieved promising results, suggest growth in future applications.

One of the achievements achieved in recent years and which is already being promoted is supercapacitors for energy storage based on graphene, which is being worked on by players such as German giant Skeleton Technologies, which has patented so-called curved graphene that improves device performance while increasing energy density by up to 72%. The production of this material, carried out by its subsidiary Skeleton Technologies on German soil, also has the advantage of avoiding the use of metals or rare earth elements, as the company emphasizes on its website, which contributes not only to sustainability but also to strategic production autonomy . continent in critical technologies.

Via Separations, a startup born out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2017, specializes in the production of graphene oxide membranes for filtration in industrial plants, which instead of traditional pollution systems allow the process to be electrified and reduce the amount of energy used by more than 80%.

“There are currently many applications where graphene could be a real revolution, and renewable energy is no exception. The first will be on the demand side, given that these materials, thanks to their electromechanical characteristics, can lead us to the creation of more compact devices with increased heat and moisture resistance, which would allow us to reduce energy consumption”, begins by highlighting Javier Lazaro, Technical and Regulatory Director of APPA Renovables. If we limit ourselves to renewable energy production, it says that it is a material with high electrical conductivity, greater than copper or silver, and is transparent, so it can improve the efficiency of solar cells by allowing energy to be captured more efficiently in extremely thin layers.

In his opinion, “it is also particularly useful as sensors and thermoelectric devices are being developed that could help utilize waste heat from process processes,” he elaborates. There are many open fields, but ultimately, the expert comments, it is the ability to reduce costs relative to existing technologies that will show industrial and commercial viability.

green hydrogen

In Spain there are specialists in finding solutions based on this nanomaterial, such as Graphenea from Guipuzcoa. Founded in 2010, it is part of the initiative Gigans, which aims to promote the use of graphene in various fields, including green hydrogen. “This is an energy vector that can revolutionize renewable industries that are very difficult to electrify, but we must ensure the competitiveness of its production, for which catalysts (substances that improve the reaction) are key, and that is what we are working on,” explains Jesús de la Fuente, founder and the company’s CEO, who emphasizes that the main benefit that can be obtained from graphene catalysts is increasing reaction efficiency compared to other older technologies. “We are still in the research phase, but the results are promising and we hope to have commercial catalysts using our materials available in the coming years,” he notes. For De la Fuente, the main barrier here is not the cost of producing graphene, but the time involved in the R&D process itself.

The Giance consortium, coordinated by the Catalan technology center Eurecart, includes 23 partners from ten countries. It is funded by the European Commission’s Horizon Europe program and is part of the Graphene Flagship innovation initiative, which aims to promote Europe’s strategic autonomy in technologies based on graphene and other 2D materials.

The Graphenea founder points out that photovoltaic energy is also fertile ground for the graphene revolution: solar cells incorporating layers of graphene are being explored to improve the efficiency of the silicon and perovskite combination. “There are already prototypes that show that this helps improve the efficiency of converting solar energy into electricity,” says De la Fuente.

Solar panels

And in the coming years this will be one of the most relevant applications. This is what Belen Linares, Cepsa’s chief innovation officer, defends: “Research and development developments are aimed at promoting the use of graphene in components in renewable energy industries to try to improve the efficiency of solar panels, which is one of the challenges. photovoltaic energy, one of the technologies that, despite being very competitively priced, requires more innovation to improve its efficiency. In this sense, Linares adds that the level of solar photovoltaic energy is lower than that of other renewable energy sources such as wind or electrochemical storage, so the introduction of graphene in the future could improve its competitiveness.

For his part, Javier Lazaro from the Appa Renovables association explains that in the case of advances in photovoltaic technology, we are faced with “a very mature market in which it would be surprising if graphene brought significant changes.” “These are very competitive technologies with advanced materials, and they must make important improvements in efficiency or cost to be able to dominate the market,” he predicts.

At a time when mobility is forced to step on the gas pedal towards sustainability, advances in battery performance are important… and graphene has a lot to say in this regard. For example, the Murcian company Graphenano and the Institute of Molecular Sciences (ICMol) of the University of Valencia announced early last year the production of a metal-free cell. In particular, the project is based on the elimination of copper, aluminum or steel sheets used in conventional batteries to drain electrical current, as well as “tabs” (current terminals) made of nickel or other metals that serve to transfer energy from the battery. inside and outside the battery.

“Replacing these metals with graphene and other carbon nanomaterials—materials with good electrical conductivity—significantly reduces the weight and volume of devices,” increases energy density from 30% to 60%and eliminates the risk of accident due to explosion or fire when in contact with air, as proven in tests,” the two companies specify in a statement. According to ICMol researcher Gonzalo Abellan, it is a “very versatile” system that can be used in various chemical processes, such as those using lithium or sodium, and which opens up new areas in silicon batteries, supercapacitors, fuel cells and hydrogen electrolyzers.

The truth is that we have important innovations ahead of us in the coming years. “This is a material with very specific properties that, when used as an innovative raw material for electric batteries, provides a significant leap in efficiency. In addition, it can help extend their lifespan,” says Belén Linares from Cepsa. The company relies on this material to improve efficiency and innovation in its commitment to sustainable mobility included in its Positive Motion 2030 strategy. According to the company’s chief innovation officer, the biggest challenge to using graphene is the cost of the material.

There is no doubt that this will be talked about in the future. “Not only in Spain, but throughout the world, there is a great demand for energy management tools such as batteries or batteries. There is a great opportunity here with graphene, especially if, as some studies show, it allows for significant weight reduction, which is fundamental for electric mobility as it provides the necessary storage and, indirectly, increases autonomy (the lower the overall weight of the vehicle, the less energy is required to move it),” says Javier Lazaro from Appa Renovables.

As an unresolved issue, he believes that Spain is a “magnificent” research country, but it is missing out on many opportunities because there is no subsequent industrial development. “It is not that there is no opportunity to develop these patents, but that in most cases there is no national industry that would take advantage of this work. We had large producers of renewable energy, mainly wind energy, which are now in other hands. “If we don’t understand that the energy transition is an industrial opportunity for our country, this talent and this research will be used in other parts of the world.”

For his part, Belen Linares, chief innovation officer at Cepsa, believes that Spain and Europe are the benchmark for investment in research and development in energy transition technologies, even on par with countries such as the United States in some technologies. “Our research, development and development in the field of ‘deep science’ or industrial technology is valuable and recognized throughout the world,” he begins with the statement. However, he cautions that our ability to convert these innovations into business value through entrepreneurship is a complex task that we still have a lot of work to do to match markets like the United States. “The push for ‘deep and climate technologies’ requires investment in this type of industrial research,” he notes.

With a thousand and one possibilities, graphene is poised to provide additional energy for the transition to renewable energy sources.