Sweden Challenges China: An Alternative to Graphite for Batteries Developed.

Researchers from the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden have created a new way to produce nanosheets of graphene oxide from carbon fibers. This method may reduce the battery industry's dependence on graphite, which is commonly used to obtain graphene oxide. The Swedish team of scientists utilized electrochemical oxidation of carbon fibers in a bath of water and nitric acid to produce graphene oxide. The resulting graphene oxide has characteristics similar to samples derived from fossil graphite. Moreover, the new approach is effective for large-scale production, providing a high yield of graphene oxide.

'The basis of the functionality of a graphite battery lies in the layered graphene within, which can be obtained from commercial carbon fibers using this method. The future of automotive manufacturing is built on battery energy, and the question is, where will graphite be sourced from? We will need alternatives,' said Professor Richard Olsson.

Scientists used carbon fibers from polyacrylonitrile, but they believe the method can also be applied to other raw materials such as biomass or by-products of the forestry industry. They plan to further explore various sources of carbon fibers and study the working principles of this process in more detail.

It should be noted that the company Zenobē has launched an energy storage facility in Scotland.