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As battery technology advances, powering your devices on the go will get faster and easier. Using a power bank with graphene makes charging time shorter, allowing you to charge phones, tablets, and laptops in half the time. Imagine putting your earbuds on the charger for a few minutes at lunch and then using them for the rest of the day, worry-free. That’s what graphene has to offer.
Graphene is a super material
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Graphene is a substance made from spreading carbon ions as thin as they will go, creating a hexagonal arrangement of atoms in a single layer so thin, it’s almost two-dimensional. It’s super-conductive of both electricity and heat, increasing its charge and discharge speed as well as its functioning temperature range. A power bank made with graphene can charge about three times faster than its closest competitor and it can then discharge, charging your devices three times as fast.
Graphene makes your power bank last longer
Since graphene batteries can charge triple the number of times as ordinary lithium ion batteries can, a graphene power bank will last longer than its traditional counterparts. You can get a full charge to your devices up to about 1,500 times with a graphene battery, so you can depend on your graphene power bank sticking around. This aspect of graphene power banks also makes them more sustainable because you don’t need to replace them as often.
Graphene batteries are safer
Because graphene conducts heat so well, batteries made with it tend to run cooler than lithium ion batteries. This prevents overheating, keeping your battery from exploding if something goes wrong. While there’s alway a possibility of accident, graphene batteries greatly reduce the risk of an overheating incident.
Where to find graphene power banks
Since graphene is still a relatively rare material, the availability of graphene power banks is limited. You can find genuine graphene power banks right now from Panasonic (currently $229.99) and UZE (currently $249). As the technology gets more common, graphene power banks will likely get easier to find.
Graphene power banks are more expensive
Because graphene is relatively scarce and not widely produced, graphene power banks are also scarce and more expensive as well. The process of making graphene is not streamlined yet, so mass production is still a little way off. You can find them for between around $220 and $320; beware of cheaper ones—they are likely not genuine graphene batteries.
Look out for fakes
Since graphene is considered a desirable component in power banks, there are lots of batteries that will come up under a search for the premium batteries that aren’t the real thing. Be suspicious if you find a greatly discounted “graphene” battery, if the product description doesn’t explicitly say that the power bank has graphene in it, or if there are similar sounding words to graphene in the title, but not in the specs. You can always send a manufacturer a message asking for clarification if you aren’t sure, and you should be suspicious of evasive answers when you do.
What to look for in the future
As the manufacturing process for graphene becomes better and more streamlined, you will likely see graphene batteries in a variety of applications, from electric vehicles to space flight. Power banks and whole house power backup systems will likely use graphene more in their batteries as the technology develops.