First Graphene Ltd (ASX:FGR, OTCQB:FGPHF) in conjunction with the University of Manchester (UoM) has secured further grant funding for the next stage of research into commercialising supercapacitor materials.
This venture will receive around A$65,000 via Innovate UK’s Accelerated Knowledge Transfer to Innovate scheme (AKT2I), with the funds used to accelerate development and optimisation of a graphene-metal-oxide slurry for manufacturing high-energy density supercapacitors.
The transition-metal-oxide particle has been proven to outperform activated carbon using an aqueous electrolyte, that is greener and safer than commercially available ones that typically rely on organic solvents.
Greener and safer
First Graphene developed a transition-metal-oxide particle, proven by a team at UoM to outperform activated carbon using an aqueous electrolyte, which is greener and safer than those that are currently commercially available that typically rely on organic solvents.
The team has demonstrated the validity of the concept using coin cell-sized prototypes that were proven to:
- improve the energy density of supercapacitors over activated carbon at a range of voltages;
- enable the production of supercapacitors using non-volatile/non-flammable electrolytes; and
- provide benefits as a catalyst in the oxygen reduction reaction in water electrolysis for green hydrogen generation.
For at-scale technology implementation, electrode slurries containing the active materials need to be carefully formulated to enable manufacturing via conventional roll-to-roll (R2R) printing.
Performance has so far been limited by coating quality, preventing progress to R2R printing, which is an essential step for industry adoption.
First Graphene and subject matter experts at UoM will use their expertise to produce and characterise a smoother, more robust slurry formulation specifically optimised to an R2R manufacturing process.
This development work is a natural progression and enabler to realise the full potential of these novel materials.
Further to this, by using First Graphene’s active material a viable, robust coating will be produced that will enable testing to be carried out inside customer laboratories.
First Graphene will produce its graphene-metal-oxide material and the UoM team, led by renowned supercapacitor expert Professor Robert Dryfe, will provide the optimised slurry for further testing.
The project started in December and is expected to finish at the end of March 2023.
“This grant continues our preferred model of leveraging available funding to progress strategic R&D work towards viable commercial outcomes,” First Graphene managing director and CEO Michael Bell said.
“Currently, no commercial transition-metal-oxide supercapacitors are available and between First Graphene and the University of Manchester, we have the expertise and existing collaborative working relationships to capitalise on the opportunity.”
University of Manchester Project Lead Professor Robert Dryfe said: “A step-change in capacitor chemistry is required to create more energy-dense supercapacitors.
“This project builds on collaborative activity between First Graphene and the University of Manchester to develop novel graphene-metal-oxide hybrids for energy storage and electrocatalytic devices, combining First Graphene’s expertise in the electrochemical exfoliation of graphene with the University’s expertise in using graphene in energy storage devices.”