[Exclusive] Exec Denies Huawei to Use Graphene Batteries in Phones
Li Na
DATE:  Dec 25 2019
/ SOURCE:  yicai
[Exclusive] Exec Denies Huawei to Use Graphene Batteries in Phones [Exclusive] Exec Denies Huawei to Use Graphene Batteries in Phones

(Yicai Global) Dec. 24 -- Huawei Technologies will not use graphene batteries in its P40 smartphones, Li Xiaolong, vice president of the company's mobile phone business, told Yicai Global, refuting a corresponding report.

The Shenzhen-based communications equipment giant has thus far not officially responded, however.

The news first surfaced on Twitter when a user tweeted that Huawei will use graphene batteries for its P40 phones, with battery capacity of 5000mAh and 30 percent smaller than traditional batteries, and which can charge up in 45 minutes. Huawei France's Twitter account retweeted the post, saying the company will release the first-ever high-end smartphone equipped with a graphene battery. It later deleted the tweet.
"Graphene battery technology still faces obstacles such as high cost in moving from the experimental phase to mass production," Zhao Meng, deputy secretary-general of China International Graphene Industry Union, said in an interview early this year, "Large-scale commercialization is unlikely to happen until after next year in my [most] optimistic forecasts." 

Graphene features high electrical conductivity and strength and is ultra-thin. Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei has talked about the material many times in media interviews in recent years. The company even showcased its self-developed graphene battery in 2016 and also cooperated with the UK's University of Manchester to study the substance's applications and applying breakthrough achievements in it in consumer electronic products and mobile communications equipment.

The sector is still skeptical as to its industrialization. Graphene costs CNY5,000 (USD713.23) per gram -- making it more expensive than gold -- because it cannot be mass-produced.

Graphene is a single, thin layer of graphite -- the same substance used in pencil lead. Graphite is an allotrope of carbon, signifying it contains the same atoms, but that they are arranged differently, giving the material unique properties. Only one atom thick, graphene is the first two-dimensional substance ever found, yet it is over 100 times stronger than steel.

The unit mAh means milliamp Hour and measures electrical power over time. It is usually used to gauge battery energy capacity. More mAh translates into longer battery capacity or life. A higher value indicates a battery stores and thus holds a greater amount.

Editor: Ben Armour

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Keywords:   Huawei,Graphene cell phone