Graphene and graphene-based composites as Li-ion battery electrode materials and their application in full cells

Abstract

In recent years, graphene has been considered as a potential “miracle material” that will revolutionize the Li-ion battery (LIB) field and bring a huge improvement in the performance of LIBs. However, despite the large number of publications every year, practical prototypes of graphene-based batteries are still few and no commercial products have entered large-scale production so far. In this review, we will start from a brief introduction of the working mechanism of LIBs, important concepts such as the solid–electrolyte interface (SEI), graphene and the production methods of graphene and graphene based composites followed by the review of graphene and graphene composites as electrode materials, highlighting the role graphene plays in the composite materials and the advantages and drawbacks of these materials. The previous sections laid the foundation of the focus of discussion, which is the application of graphene based materials in full cell prototypes, the difficulties they face and efforts to solve the various problems preventing the implementation of graphene based materials in practical commercial cells.