Chapter 438 Even I Haven’t Considered This Direction
We not only require to make an energy storage system with high power storage capacity, but also to ensure the safety and ultra-long life of the system.
After all, the power system is not like that of electric cars, and it is impossible to replace the battery pack every few years.
After determining the initial goals, the project team first studied the equivalent circuit model of the battery pack.
Regarding the positive electrode material of the battery, Xu You has basically determined to use the same positive electrode material as the Fulon mobile phone.
This material can ensure that the battery has a very high energy density, and there is no other better material in the industry.
But in the process of finding suitable negative electrode materials.
The entire project team did not reach a consensus.
Commonly used carbon negative electrode materials include graphite, soft carbon and hard carbon, etc.
There is nothing wrong with these materials as negative electrode materials, but there is nothing particularly outstanding in their performance.
Xu You and some members of the project team hope to use a negative electrode material with better performance.
Graphene.
Graphene and graphite have a very subtle relationship.
Simply put, stacking graphene layer by layer will produce graphite.
Compared with ordinary graphite, graphene has a larger specific surface area, a more open layer structure, greater electrical conductivity, and better flexibility.
These excellent properties make graphene very suitable as a material for energy storage and conversion devices.
But at the same time, some properties of graphene itself cause some repulsive reactions between it and lithium ions.
This makes it difficult for graphene to be used as the negative electrode material of lithium batteries.
Regarding this issue, Xu You consulted many experts in related fields in China, but did not get any ideal answers.
"Unfortunately, with my current brain power, I am unable to simulate the same scenario in my brain."
If an expert could provide Xu You with more detailed information, Xu You would be confident that he could use his brain's simulation capabilities to find a more appropriate way to solve the problem.
"By the way, let's ask Professor Wei Zhou."
At this time, Xu You thought of one of the world's best materials experts who was now working on the other side of the ocean.
In previous online exchanges with Wei Zhou, Xu You had witnessed Wei Zhou's strong academic ability.
Xu You believes that Wei Zhou is at the same level as Schulz of Germany and is a true materials expert in the world.
It’s just that Schultz’s research area is more inclined towards metal materials, while Wei Zhou’s research area is mainly in nanomaterials.
As far as Xu You knows, Wei Zhou has also made considerable achievements in the research of graphene.
Wei Zhou had specifically told Xu You before that he could contact him anytime if he needed anything.
As long as it is a problem that Wei Zhou can solve, Wei Zhou will not have any reservations.
Thinking of this, Xu You decided to ask Wei Zhou for help with this problem.
After all, in the field of graphene, Wei Zhou is definitely much better than himself.
Just before Xu You wanted to send a message to Wei Zhou.
Xu You suddenly thought of Chen Pingqiu.
"It's better to report this matter to your superiors."
Although Xu You had a good impression of Wei Zhou, he also believed that Wei Zhou was someone he could trust.
However, Wei Zhou was on the other side of the ocean after all.
If you contact him casually, there may be some unexpected risks.
After Xu You reported this to his superiors, they responded quickly.
It is okay to communicate with Wei Zhou, but limit the communication to academic issues and try not to talk about other unnecessary things.
The entire communication process also needs to be recorded on the screen or in audio.
After confirming all the precautions, Xu You sent a message to Wei Zhou.
As promised before, Wei Zhou attached great importance to Xu You's request and immediately agreed on a time with Xu You.
Due to the time difference, in order to ensure that it would not affect the work and rest schedules of both people, the communication time was set in the morning of Jijing time.
"Professor Wei, we are considering whether graphene can be used as the negative electrode material for lithium batteries. In our experiments, we found that lithium ions cannot be stored in a single layer of graphene. I wonder if Professor Wei is doing research in this area?"
"Professor Xu, we have indeed encountered the phenomenon you mentioned. Graphene is theoretically very suitable as a negative electrode material for lithium batteries because of its many excellent properties. But this phenomenon seems to negate this application of graphene."
Xu You noticed that Wei Zhou deliberately used the word "seems" in his expression just now.
In this case, Wei Zhou should have found a solution to the problem.
"Professor Wei, could you please tell me the strategy to deal with this?"
"Of course, I will tell Professor Xu everything I know. As long as some defects are created in a single layer of graphene, lithium ions can be stored in the graphene."
"Produce...some defects?" Xu You asked in surprise.
After Wei Zhou's reminder, Xu You reacted immediately .
This idea is indeed very imaginative, and even Xu You has never thought about it in this direction before.
"That's right, Professor Xu. As long as a single layer of graphene has some defects, its electronic structure can be changed to improve its lithium storage performance. I have done related research privately before, but I haven't published it yet."
Xu Youxin thought, no wonder no relevant information was found in the paper database.
Next, Wei Zhou explained several theoretical methods of creating defects in graphene.
"It's too specific. I'm sorry I can't explain it to you in detail. You need to explore it yourself in the experiment."
"Of course, I am very grateful to Professor Wei for giving me some pointers. Professor Wei, please rest assured that even if we do come up with a solution, we will not publish the relevant results."
Xu You didn't know why Wei Zhou trusted him so much and was willing to share even the results that had not been published publicly with him without reservation.
But no matter what, Xu You will definitely respect and protect Wei Zhou's intellectual property rights.
"Professor Xu, I still need to remind you of something in advance. Although the lithium storage performance of single-layer graphene can be improved by artificially creating defects, this does not mean that graphene can already be used as the negative electrode material of lithium batteries."
"Professor Wei, please enlighten me." Xu You said humbly.
"The presence of defects in graphene can improve the electrochemical performance of graphene. But at the same time, it will also introduce some irreversible side reactions, affecting the life of lithium-ion batteries. None of the defect methods we have tried has solved this problem well. Compared with lithium batteries using other negative electrode materials, lithium batteries using graphene as the negative electrode material have a much shorter lifespan."
