July 13, 2010 
Adding a bit of graphene to battery materials could dramatically cut the time it takes to recharge electronics
RICHLAND, Washington - New battery materials developed by the D.O.E.'s Pacific Northwest National Lab and Vorbeck Materials Corporation of Jessup, Md., could enable electric vehicles, power tools and even cell phones to recharge in minutes rather than hours.
In collaboration with Vorbeck and researcher Ilhan Aksay at Princeton University, PNNL has demonstrated that small quantities of graphene - an ultra-thin sheet of carbon atoms - can dramatically enhance the power and cycling stability of lithium-ion batteries, while maintaining high energy storage capacity. The pioneering work could lead to the development of batteries that store larger amounts of energy and recharge quickly.
Today, a typical cell phone battery takes between 2 and 5 hours to fully recharge. Researchers think using new battery materials with graphene could cut recharge time to less than ten minutes.
Battelle, which operates PNNL for DOE, entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Arrangement with Vorbeck for use of its unique graphene material, Vor-xTM, in battery materials synthesis research. Click here to read the announcement from Vorbeck.
This research is made possible the by the D.O.E.'s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Technology Commercialization Fund.
Vorbeck Materials Corporation was established in 2006 to manufacture and develop applications using Vor-xTM, Vorbeck's patented graphene material developed at Princeton University. Vorbeck became the 1st company to successfully commercialize a graphene product in 2009 with the introduction of Vor-ink, a graphene-based conductive ink.
Battelle is the world's biggest non-profit independent research and development organization, providing innovative solutions to the world's most pressing needs through its 4 global businesses: Lab Management, National Security, Energy Technology, and Health and Life Sciences. It advances scientific discovery and application by conducting $5.2 billion in global R&D annually through contract research, Lab management and technology commercialization. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Battelle oversees 20,400 employees in in excess of 130 locations worldwide, including 7 national labs which Battelle manages or co-manages for the D.O.E. and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and 2 international laboratories-a nuclear energy lab in the United Kingdom and a renewable energy lab in Malaysia.
Pacific Northwest National Lab is a D.O.E. Office of Science national Lab where interdisciplinary teams advance science and technology and deliver solutions to America's most intractable problems in energy, the environment and national security. PNNL employs 4,700 staff, has an yearly budget of nearly $1.1 billion, and has been managed by Ohio-based Battelle since the lab's inception in 1965. Follow PNNL on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
