title: Critical Insight into the Relentless Progression Toward Graphene and Graphene-Containing Materials for Lithium-Ion Battery Anodes.
abstract: Used as a bare active material or component in hybrids, graphene has been the subject of numerous studies in recent years. Indeed, from the first report that appeared in late July 2008, almost 1600 papers were published as of the end 2015 that investigated the properties of graphene as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries. Although an impressive amount of data has been collected, a real advance in the field still seems to be missing. In this framework, attention is focused on the most prominent research efforts in this field with the aim of identifying the causes of such relentless progression through an insightful and critical evaluation of the lithium-ion storage performances (i.e., 1stcycle irreversible capacity, specific gravimetric and volumetric capacities, average delithiation voltage profile, rate capability and stability upon cycling). The "graphene fever" has certainly provided a number of fundamental studies unveiling the electrochemical properties of this "wonder" material. However, analysis of the published literature also highlights a loss of focus from the final application. Hype-driven claims, not fully appropriate metrics, and negligence of key parameters are probably some of the factors still hindering the application of graphene in commercial batteries.
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU), Helmholtzstrasse 11, 89081, Ulm, Germany.|Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), P.O. Box 3640, 76021, Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Rinaldo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Raccichini
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU), Helmholtzstrasse 11, 89081, Ulm, Germany.|Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), P.O. Box 3640, 76021, Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Varzi
authors.affiliation: Nokia Technologies, Broers Building, 21 JJ Thomson Av., Madingley Road, CB3 0FA, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Di
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU), Helmholtzstrasse 11, 89081, Ulm, Germany.|Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), P.O. Box 3640, 76021, Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Passerini
keywords: anode; battery; graphene; graphene-containing hybrids; lithium-ion batteries