Taking the energy storage of supercapacitors to new heights

Researchers from The University of Texas at El Paso and the Medical University of Bialystok, Poland, have achieved what is reportedly the highest level of energy storage — also known as capacitance — in a supercapacitor. The study, led by Luis Echegoyen and Marta Plonska-Brzezinska, was featured in the journal Scientific Reports.

Supercapacitors are devices that store electrical energy between two metal plates that are close together but separated by a surface that cannot conduct electricity. Supercapacitors are similar to batteries, except that batteries store and retrieve energy using chemical transformations, while capacitors store energy by using oppositely charged surfaces. They are often used in machines that require rapid discharge of energy, like electric cars, buses, trains and cranes.

Echegoyen, a faculty member at the University of Texas at El Paso, said this is a milestone that could get researchers closer to achieving supercapacitors with high energy density, which could change how we store and manage energy. “I’m very proud to be part of the team that reached this milestone,” Echegoyen said.

Supercapacitors have high potential because they can charge faster than batteries — within seconds to fractions of a second, according to Echegoyen. However, current supercapacitors only store a low amount of energy, which limits their range of potential applications. If supercapacitors could store more energy, they would be physically lighter and charge faster than batteries, which could have significant commercial impact.

The supercapacitor designed by Echegoyen and Plonska-Brzezinska reportedly achieved a record level of capacitance using a material with a carbon “nano-onion” core structure, which creates multiple pores that can store a greater volume of energy.

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