Graphene materials in green energy applications: Recent development and future perspective

Graphene, composed of single-layered sp(2) graphite, with its superb physical and chemical properties, has attracted scientists in different areas, including electronics, medicine, and chemicals. Its applications in green energy were extensively studied in the past two decades. Results from different studies show that graphene-based products with different structures (2D and 3D graphene) can effectively enhance green energy conversion and storage compared to traditional energy materials like metal and metal oxides. This review focuses on the historical development of graphene, the variation of graphene products, and mainstream researches in graphene-based green energy applications carried out in recent years, such as fuel cell, solar cell, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), supercapacitor, dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC), and photoelectrochemical water-splitting cell. The development of graphene-based materials integrated with different 3D printing technology and the application of their products in green energy are also discussed together with a forecast on the development of graphene-based materials in the future.