Why did graphene become a hoax in China?

But despite the growing promise of graphene, a very different argument is also unequivocal: graphene is a hoax in China.

In March 2015, the Chongqing institute of green intelligent technology of the Chinese academy of sciences announced the launch of a graphene mobile phone named "Yingchi SETTLER alpha". According to the publicity at that time, the light transmittance of the graphene mobile phone was up to 97%, the charging rate of the mobile phone was increased by 40%, the battery life was extended by 50%, and the energy density of the battery was increased by 10%. Because of graphene's proximity, the phone can cost as much as 2,499 yuan, even though it costs only 1,000 yuan.

Eight months on, the graphene phone has not been on the market, despite the announcement of its first 30,000 units.

But people can buy all kinds of other graphene products. For example, the new third board listed company Shengquan group has launched graphene socks and underwear on the market. According to the company's announcement, they added biomass graphene "endotherm" fiber, a new intelligent multi-functional composite fiber, "which has the characteristics of activating immune cells, protecting against ultraviolet rays, improving microcirculation, antibacterial and antibacterial, increasing temperature and Yang, as well as deodorizing".

According to the company's publicity, they carbonized straw from plants to extract graphene and used the superconductivity of graphene as raw material for clothing production. They plan will also introduce smart bra, with built-in sensors measuring temperature of breast minute changes, effectively preventing cancer and breast cancer, also plans to apply to the uniform, at present, these so-called graphene products is not cheap, more than 50 yuan to the price of a pair of socks, a pair of pants is close to 300 yuan, the price of a graphene belt prices should be nearly 600 yuan, and fever were sold to more than 1700 yuan.

"When nanomaterials were hot in the market a few years ago, there was a lot of hype about the concept of 'nano-plus' in China. "Said qi lu, a materials scientist and head of the national 863 project and a professor at the school of chemistry and molecular engineering at Peking University. Due to its contribution to the energy of new materials, qilu is also known as the main founder of lithium cobalt acid and lithium manganese acid battery cathode materials in China.

According to the reporter, there are currently two kinds of graphene: monatomic thin film graphene and graphene powder. The former is mainly prepared from carbonaceous gases such as methane and acetylene by means of chemical vapor deposition, and has nothing to do with graphite or straw.

Graphene powder is made of natural graphite, which is oxidized with concentrated acid and strong oxidant, and then reduced by expansion heat treatment. As for graphene extracted from straw, it is unheard of by many people in the industry that 15 jin of corn cob can be used to extract 1 jin of graphene.

In addition to graphene underwear, which was apparently a hoax, "graphene batteries" and "graphene lithium batteries", which were eagerly developed for a number of research institutes and companies, were also accused of lying.

Currently, the way graphene is used in the field of batteries is to add graphene materials to the positive and negative electrodes of lithium batteries. "This is clearly misleading." Recently, an article by liu guanwei, a researcher at Tsinghua University's energy Internet, questioning "graphene batteries" has been widely circulated online.

The paper, entitled "is the fabled graphene battery technology a big lie?" In the article, liu guanwei made a clear point at the very beginning:

Graphene battery "this technology is close to non-existent, graphene can only theoretically improve charging and discharging rate, and for capacity (people who expect" graphene battery "can solve the battery life of mobile phones/electric cars will be disappointed), the gimmick meaning is far more than practical value.

According to the classical electrochemical nomography, lithium-ion batteries used in smartphones should be named "lithium cobalt-graphite batteries," liu said. Lithium ion battery is called "lithium ion battery" because lithium ion plays a major role in it. "Strictly speaking, graphene only plays an auxiliary role in the battery, so you can't just call a battery that USES graphene 'graphene battery'."

According to liu, graphene is the only "conductive additive" used in lithium batteries that has basically entered the market. But even the use of "additives" has been questioned.

Graphene can be used as a conductive agent to promote the rapid charging and discharging of lithium battery. Theoretically, it can improve the multiplier performance. However, if the dispersion process is not in place and the mixture is uneven, everything is a castle in the air. In addition, there are a lot of good and inexpensive materials out there, so you don't have to use expensive graphene.

The reporter noted that Liu Guanwei's views have been recognized by many senior experts in the industry, including Zhang Yuanbo, qi lu, lu hongbin, professor of polymer science at fudan university, and yuan Guohui, professor of applied chemistry at the school of chemical engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology.

"Can anyone come up with the data so far? Has anyone made a battery like this?" "Both the positive and negative poles of lithium batteries are layered structures, so under certain external conditions, migration from positive to negative can be formed," lu said. Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms in a ring structure, which is determined by its chemical and physical properties.

A lot of people waste their lives?

For the question of the expert inside course of study, as a "Chinese graphene industry technology innovation strategic alliance" secretary-general, Li Yichun says: "the industry, although controversial, scientific and technological innovation, anything can happen, some experts believe impossible things, many are realized, some experts too arbitrary, but we have to have an open mind."

So far, it is impossible to know the true nature of the latest "world's leading graphene lithium battery" developed in Qingdao. Huawei replied that "graphene has been studied, but it will not be commercially available so soon." Huang Fuqiang, head of the "graphene super electric vehicle battery" team at the Shanghai institute of silicate of the Chinese academy of sciences, argues that "people come to different conclusions from different angles, but the essence is the same."