{"id":22537,"date":"2022-11-06T19:03:55","date_gmt":"2022-11-06T20:03:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/?p=22537"},"modified":"2022-11-06T20:40:58","modified_gmt":"2022-11-06T20:40:58","slug":"queensland-developed-battery-technology-a-potential-game-changer-for-energy-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/2022\/11\/06\/queensland-developed-battery-technology-a-potential-game-changer-for-energy-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Queensland-developed battery technology a potential game changer for energy industry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">A Brisbane company believes it can change the face of Australia&#8217;s energy landscape with an eco-friendly, carbon-neutral&nbsp;cell<strong><em> <\/em><\/strong>that&nbsp;charges 70 times faster than a lithium ion battery and can be reused thousands of times.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"_3qLh5 _sBMB _1ilWc\">\n<section class=\"_3xJds _3tgJi\" role=\"contentinfo\" aria-label=\"key points\" data-component=\"KeyPoints\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/teaser\/101613434\">\n<h2 class=\"_1EAJU hMmqO _316gH _1zBDU _1BqKa _2AH39 _3HiTE x9R1x pDrMR hmFfs _390V1\" data-component=\"Heading\">Key points:<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"qkR3W\" data-component=\"List\" role=\"list\">\n<li class=\"\" data-component=\"ListItem\"><span class=\"_1yaJg _1VtHm\"><\/span>Brisbane&#8217;s Graphene Manufacturing Group says it is the only company in the world making its&nbsp;own graphene<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-component=\"ListItem\"><span class=\"_1yaJg _1VtHm\"><\/span>Graphene batteries are more stable than lithium batteries, which&nbsp;are used in many&nbsp;household items<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-component=\"ListItem\"><span class=\"_1yaJg _1VtHm\"><\/span>There is a growing need for investment in technology such as batteries to assist with solar energy storage<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">Founder and managing director of Graphene Manufacturing Group Craig Nicol said the company&#8217;s graphene aluminium ion battery was a world-leading piece of technology developed by the University of Queensland (UQ).<\/p>\n<figure class=\"_247xw _3qLh5 _sBMB _1ilWc\" role=\"group\" data-print=\"inline-media\" aria-labelledby=\"abc-:R12ivner:\" data-component=\"Figure\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/audiosegment\/101486306\">\n<div class=\"RbU2j _3zGsI\" data-component=\"Player\" title=\"Graphene Manufacturing Group has developed its own proprietary production process to manufacture Graphene powder from readily available low-cost feedstock.\"><span class=\"_76TfH\" data-component=\"ScreenReaderOnly\">Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.<\/span><button class=\"_1a524 _3MbSs\" data-component=\"PlayerButton\" aria-label=\"Play Audio. Duration: 12 minutes 42 seconds\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"_1O2La tkw1i\"><span class=\"_3NfnO\">Listen<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"_1_CJv _3fY-w\" data-component=\"MediaDuration\"><span class=\"_76TfH\" data-component=\"ScreenReaderOnly\">Duration: 12 minutes 42 seconds<\/span>12<abbr title=\"minutes\">m <\/abbr><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"_2O5la\">\n<div class=\"_3poXF\">\n<div class=\"_1Axyg\" data-component=\"AspectRatioContainer\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Play Audio. Duration: 12 minutes 42 seconds\" class=\"jMqWO _1PHKk\" src=\"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/3c1dece3b072edfa6d4a477708eb08b0\" data-component=\"image\" data-lazy=\"true\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"_1EAJU _2_dbS _2L258 _14LIk _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" id=\"abc-:R12ivner:\" data-component=\"Figure__figcaption\"> Graphene Manufacturing Group has developed its own proprietary production process to manufacture Graphene powder from readily available low-cost feedstock. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">He&nbsp;said the business was the only one in the world making its own graphene \u2014 a nanomaterial made up of one layer of carbon atoms that is thin, strong and an excellent conductor of electricity \u2014&nbsp;and had been working on the technology for six years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">&#8220;There&#8217;s a tech here that I think will really help with the energy transition, and so the Queensland government coming out and saying, &#8216;We want to push ahead&#8217;&nbsp;is a&nbsp;huge step forward,&#8221; he&nbsp;told ABC Radio&#8217;s Rebecca Levingston.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">&#8220;We need batteries of all different types to be able to manage the massive swings in electricity in the grid.<\/p>\n<div class=\"_14Wz0 _3qLh5 _sBMB\" data-component=\"EmphasisedText\">\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">&#8220;Our battery we think is going to be a huge help, as we&#8217;ll be able to charge our battery many times a day, whereas lithium battery can really only do it once.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">Rapidly increasing <a class=\"u0kBv _3CtDL _1_pW8 _3Fvo9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2022-11-02\/australian-solar-records-tumble-as-coal-eclipsed\/101606490\" data-component=\"ContentLink\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/article\/101606490\">use of solar energy has been putting pressure on Australia&#8217;s old energy grid infrastructure<\/a> as demand for traditional sources of power plummeted over the past few months.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">Energy Corporation of NSW&nbsp;board member Dr Alex Wonhas said there was a pressing need for more investment in technology such as batteries that could store energy generated by solar cells.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"_1EAJU hMmqO SYcM3 zwVFG _1BqKa _3AExf _3HiTE x9R1x pDrMR hmFfs _390V1\" data-component=\"Heading\">Opportunities for graphene batteries<\/h2>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">Mr Nicol&nbsp;said their graphene battery was currently only on a laboratory production scale but there were many opportunities for their wider application&nbsp;in the future, with interest from drone applications and vehicles.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">&#8220;All different&nbsp;companies want this type of tech that we have,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">&#8220;The opportunities are vast, and not just what we think batteries are useful for now.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">&#8220;There is so much potential if&nbsp;this transition actually is to take hold and and go through.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"_247xw _3qLh5 _sBMB _1ilWc\" role=\"group\" data-print=\"inline-media\" aria-labelledby=\"101615860\" data-component=\"Figure\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/imageproxy\/101615860\">\n<div class=\"_3poXF\">\n<div class=\"_1Axyg\" data-component=\"AspectRatioContainer\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A headshot of a smiling man with short brown hair, wearing a white shirt\" class=\"jMqWO _1PHKk\" src=\"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/4e032ec5ee7844561de992cfab6e9605\" data-component=\"image\" data-lazy=\"true\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"_1EAJU _2_dbS _2L258 _14LIk _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" id=\"101615860\" data-component=\"Figure__figcaption\"> Mr Nicol says the graphene battery is 70 times faster than a lithium battery and can be charged thousands of times.<cite class=\"_1EAJU _1ftZy _2L258 _14LIk _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" data-component=\"Figure__cite\">(<span class=\"_1EAJU _1s6pr _2L258 _1BqKa _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" data-component=\"Byline\"><span class=\"_1EAJU _2L258 _14LIk _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" data-component=\"Text\"><span><em>Supplied: Craig Nicol&nbsp;<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span>)<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">Mr Nicol&nbsp;said the company&nbsp;had not made a AA battery yet but was working on a 2023 coin cell battery, which were&nbsp;used in remote controls and were safe for kids.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">&#8220;We have done tests and we don&#8217;t think there are going to be any safety issues with our battery.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"_14Wz0 _3qLh5 _sBMB\" data-component=\"EmphasisedText\">\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">&#8220;These will also be cost-effective and&nbsp;you could gift this battery to your kids in the will, it&#8217;ll last that long,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">Mr Nicol&nbsp;also said that graphene batteries&nbsp;were the future and&nbsp;could be charged and used thousands of times.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">&#8220;It&#8217;s not like a lithium battery, which typically takes 500 cycles, and then it has to be replaced,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">&#8220;Ours is effectively like&nbsp;a hybrid supercapacitor battery, which can be&nbsp;charged thousands of times.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">&#8220;These are really world-leading as the last time anyone did anything on aluminium batteries&nbsp;was Stanford and ours is four times better than Stanford&#8217;s.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"_1EAJU hMmqO SYcM3 zwVFG _1BqKa _3AExf _3HiTE x9R1x pDrMR hmFfs _390V1\" data-component=\"Heading\">Issues with lithium batteries&nbsp;<\/h2>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">Mr Nicol&nbsp;said lithium batteries found in mobile phones, toys and even cars often had faults and there had been safety issues asociated with them.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"_247xw _3qLh5 _sBMB _1ilWc\" role=\"group\" data-print=\"inline-media\" aria-labelledby=\"101613354\" data-component=\"Figure\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/imageproxy\/101613354\">\n<div class=\"_3poXF\">\n<div class=\"_1Axyg\" data-component=\"AspectRatioContainer\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"An electrical power board with burned material nearby\" class=\"jMqWO _1PHKk\" src=\"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/216002f698bec5ee852765b7c52d157a\" data-component=\"image\" data-lazy=\"true\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"_1EAJU _2_dbS _2L258 _14LIk _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" id=\"101613354\" data-component=\"Figure__figcaption\"> Mr Nicol says lithium batteries found in household items can be very unstable.<cite class=\"_1EAJU _1ftZy _2L258 _14LIk _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" data-component=\"Figure__cite\">(<span class=\"_1EAJU _1s6pr _2L258 _1BqKa _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" data-component=\"Byline\"><span class=\"_1EAJU _2L258 _14LIk _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" data-component=\"Text\"><span><em>Supplied: Queensland Fire and Emergency Service<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span>)<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">&#8220;The aluminium atom which our battery&nbsp;used&nbsp;is far more stable than the lithium atom&nbsp;and that&#8217;s why lithium is often having problems,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">&#8220;It was effectively built out of phones into cars and now some grid batteries, but it is a very unstable battery when it does come in touch with water or air.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">&#8220;But we need lithium batteries just as much as every other opportunity out there and we need them all at scale to make this transition work.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"_1EAJU hMmqO SYcM3 zwVFG _1BqKa _3AExf _3HiTE x9R1x pDrMR hmFfs _390V1\" data-component=\"Heading\">Australia a major exporter<\/h2>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">Research fellow from UQ&#8217;s Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology Dr Xiaodan Huang said graphene batteries were lightweight, not&nbsp;flammable and a&nbsp;lot less expensive and more sustainable than lithium batteries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">&#8220;Lithium is a heavy metal&nbsp;which is expensive because raw material prices are high,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">&#8220;Australia is a rich resource of graphene,&nbsp;aluminium and natural gas, which are&nbsp;more affordable and easier&nbsp;to recycle.<\/p>\n<div class=\"_14Wz0 _3qLh5 _sBMB\" data-component=\"EmphasisedText\">\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">&#8220;We are trying to provide a different option for customers to choose as an alternative and as specialty technology for the Australian battery industry, because our batteries&nbsp;are&nbsp;imported from overseas companies.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">Deepak Dubal from the Queensland University of Technology&#8217;s Centre for Materials Science said Australia was one of the world&#8217;s&nbsp;biggest suppliers for minerals used in lithium&nbsp;batteries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">&#8220;Australia&nbsp;is the&nbsp;biggest supplier of lithium in the world and the second largest supplier of cobalt,&#8221; he&nbsp;said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"_247xw _3qLh5 _sBMB _1ilWc\" role=\"group\" data-print=\"inline-media\" aria-labelledby=\"101614046\" data-component=\"Figure\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/imageproxy\/101614046\">\n<div class=\"_3poXF\">\n<div class=\"_1Axyg\" data-component=\"AspectRatioContainer\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Man in a white lab coat holding a jar with yellow lid and dark-coloured chemicals in it.\" class=\"jMqWO _1PHKk\" src=\"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/51d9b359df26c8e38b78a02d8b14cbb1\" data-component=\"image\" data-lazy=\"true\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"_1EAJU _2_dbS _2L258 _14LIk _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" id=\"101614046\" data-component=\"Figure__figcaption\"> Queensland&#8217;s industry is trying to offer an alternative to lithium batteries.<cite class=\"_1EAJU _1ftZy _2L258 _14LIk _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" data-component=\"Figure__cite\">(<span class=\"_1EAJU _1s6pr _2L258 _1BqKa _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" data-component=\"Byline\"><span class=\"_1EAJU _2L258 _14LIk _3pVeq hmFfs _2F43D\" data-component=\"Text\"><span><em>Supplied: The University of Queensland&nbsp;<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span>)<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">However, Dr Dubal said Australia did not really benefit from the export of lithium in batteries due to only focusing on one segment within the six segment battery value chain.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">&#8220;We are not the biggest beneficiary in the lithium battery market as although Australia makes up 50 per cent&nbsp;of the market share for lithium exports, we are not&nbsp;producing the batteries ourselves,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">&#8220;Australia only benefits&nbsp;0.53&nbsp;per cent&nbsp;of the total value chain.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1g_Rg\">Dr Dubal predicted that in 10 years&#8217; time, Australia could be&nbsp;exporting both&nbsp;raw lithium and graphene batteries.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"_3qLh5 _sBMB _21naB\" data-component=\"LegacyWysiwyg\" data-print=\"inline-media\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/teaser\/12625936\" title=\"Find more local news\">\n<h2 class=\"_1EAJU hMmqO _316gH _1zBDU _1BqKa _2AH39 _3HiTE x9R1x pDrMR hmFfs _390V1\" data-component=\"Heading\">Find more local news<\/h2>\n<\/aside>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Brisbane company believes it can change the face of Australia&#8217;s energy landscape with an<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22539,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22537"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22537"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22544,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22537\/revisions\/22544"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}