Graphene in lithium-based rechargeable batteries: progress and prospect

Clean and efficient electrochemical energy storage and conversion devices are urgently required due to the aggravating energy and environmental problems.The lithium-based rechargeable batteries including lithium-ion,lithiumsulfur and lithium-air batteries have attracted much attention for lithium possessing the extremely high energy density,while the carbonaceous materials play a vital role as carbon electrodes or key components for noncarbon electrodes in these batteries.With the unique structure of single-layer thickness with close-packed conjugated hexagonal lattices,graphene possesses huge specific surface area,excellent mechanical,thermal and electrical properties,inherent flexibility and chemical stability.Meanwhile,some novel carbon based high performance electrode materials can be designed and assembled with graphenes which are used as the basic unit for various sp2 carbons.Therefore,graphene-based materials with well-controlled nanostructure show great potentials in lithium-based rechargeable batteries.The progresses of the related studies and applications are summarized and the challenges and prospects are also commented and discussed.