Collapsible Supercapacitors
If the battery is stored energy marathon runners in the world, so the super capacitor can be compared to a sprinter: super capacitor is more suitable for short-term storage energy applications, but long term battery is a better choice.Now engineers from Georgia tech and the university of South Korea have developed a new supercapacitor designed to allow it to store more energy for longer periods of time.The supercapacitor is made of metallized paper.
Batteries have high energy density but low power density, which means they can store energy for long periods of time.Supercapacitors have the opposite problem: they can immediately provide supercurrent power, but with a low energy density.The researchers want to develop a supercapacitor that balances energy density and power density.
To this end, the team developed a relatively simple process to make such devices.First, dip a piece of paper into an aqueous solution containing an amine surfactant and then immerse it in a solution filled with gold nanoparticles.Surfactants help gold get into the paper and stick to it.
Next, scientists use the same method to add metal oxide layers, including manganese oxide.Finally, gold conductive layer and metal oxide layer to store it, makes superconductor has not only high energy density and power density, but also in the case of no loss of these energy folding and cutting.
“It’s basically a very simple process,” said Seung Woo Lee, co-author of the study.We in alternating beaker step by step process on the cellulose fibre provides good conformal coating, we can fold of metallized paper, and can be bent without damage to the electrical conductivity, we are to control the nano-scale coatings to apply to the paper, if increase the layers, the performance will continue to grow, these are based on plain paper.”
The power density of the metallized paper supercapacitor is 15.1 mW/cm
2. The energy density is 267.3 uW/cm
2, the researchers say it is the highest performing textile supercapacitor.”Yes we can produce the size of the sample should be no restrictions,” Lee said, “we only need to establish the best thickness, to provide good electrical conductivity, minimize the use of nanoparticles at the same time, to optimize the trade-off between cost and performance.
Next, the team plans to try using the fabric as the base material and eventually using the same process to develop the battery.
“This flexible energy storage device can provide a unique opportunity for the connection between the wearable device and the Internet,” Lee said.We can support the most advanced research and development of portable electronic products, we can have a chance to this kind of super capacitor and for biomedical sensors, consumer electronics and military electronic products, and similar applications combined power energy collection equipment.”
