Nanotech Energy, a UCLA incubator company that produces graphene for energy storage, announced that it has developed a way to produce graphene with an unsurpassed surface area of over 2500 m2/g. This is close to the theoretical limit for the material of 2600 m2/g. The surface area determines how many electrons can be stored, and as a result how much energy can be stored in batteries and supercapacitors. Without the large surface area, graphene loses most of its superlatives and behaves just like graphite, according to the company.
While several companies claim to produce graphene, the material that almost all of them produce is actually graphite and not graphene, according to Dr. Maher El-Kady, a leading UCLA scientist and one of the company's founders.
"After tests have demonstrated that almost all graphene sold today is really thin layer graphite and not graphene, this is a major step forward to be able to scale real graphene with a surface area (over 2500 m2/g) that approaches the theoretical limit," Dr. Maher El-Kady said.
A second version of graphene with a surface area of 2,000 to 2,200 meters squared per gram, measured by methylene blue adsorption, is available for purchase based on the downstream application. The other version of over 2,500 meters squared per gram is being used only for Nanotech's downstream products.
Jack Kavanaugh, Nanotech founder and CEO said, "Nanotech Energy has created a remarkable technology that reaches the boundaries of superior energy density, power density, cycle life and, most importantly, safety. It's an exciting time for the company and the industry."
Dr. Maher El-Kady added, "It's widely accepted that the properties of graphene vary depending on the number of layers. The high surface area of our graphene has potential to dramatically transform the graphene industry. We already produce super-batteries, supercapacitors, conductive inks and conductive epoxies with unprecedented performance and have responsibly extended our leads in each of those arenas by making them all safer."
