Abstract:With the mass market penetration of electric vehicles, the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions associated with lithium-ion battery production has become a major concern. In this study, by establishing a life cycle assessment framework, GHG emissions from the production of lithium-ion batteries in China are estimated. The results show that for the three types of most commonly used lithium-ion batteries, the (LFP) battery, the (NMC) battery and the (LMO) battery, the GHG emissions from the production of a 28 kWh battery are 3061 kgCO 2 -eq, 2912 kgCO 2 -eq and 2705 kgCO 2 -eq, respectively. This implies around a 30% increase in GHG emissions from vehicle production compared with conventional vehicles. The productions of cathode materials and wrought aluminum are the dominating contributors of GHG emissions, together accounting for around three quarters of total emissions. From the perspective of process energy use, around 40% of total emissions are associated with electricity use, for which the GHG emissions in China are over two times higher than the level in the United States. According to our analysis, it is recommended that great efforts are needed to reduce the GHG emissions from battery production in China, with improving the production of cathodes as the essential measure.

Graphene-encapsulated mesoporous metal oxides (e.g. Co 3 O 4 , Cr 2 O 3 and NiO) as novel anode materials for lithium-ion batteries were simply synthesized by adjusting the pH of mesoporous metal oxides and graphene oxide suspensions to set values (e.g. 5-6 for metal oxides, 7-8 for graphene oxide) and mixing the two suspensions in the presence of reducing agents. These composites synthesized by this facile method exhibited superior electrochemical performance, including remarkably high capacity, high rate capability and excellent cycle performance. The improved performance may be attributed to the high dispersion of mesoporous particles separated by graphene nanosheets and the high electrical conductivity of graphene.

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