Improving Microsupercapacitors with Porous Materials

A research team working at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology recently came up with a microsupercapacitor that has three-dimensional porous electrodes. The development seems to be an important breakthrough and it is being said that this will pave a way to new generation of ‘smart product’ including self-powered sensors as well as security related, structural health related and monitoring related IoT applications, as well as number of wearables.

According to Professor Husam Alshareef, “While batteries must be charged at a constant voltage, a super capacitor charges most efficiently by drawing the maximum current that the source can supply, irrespective of voltage.” The team also developed new range of integrated microsupercapacitors that are embedded with vertically scaled three-dimensional porous current collectors. These collectors are made of nickel foams that help enhancing surface area.

Professor Alshareef further adds, “This three-dimensional porous architecture allows excellent electrolyte permeability, good conductivity and faster ion transportation with maximum mass-loading of active material, which increase energy and power density in a given area.” These new microsupercapacitors are also quite asymmetric and make use of two different kinds of electrode materials for cathode and anode. The cathode here is made up of nickel cobalt sulphide while the anodes are made up of carbon nanofibre. These almost double up the operating voltage. As a result of this, when high power density is developed, the microsupercapacitors bear an energy density of approx. 200µWh/cm2.

This microspuercapacitor is being said to be of superior format than those others that range between 1-40µWh/cm2. The capacities of these capacitors were seen intact even after 10, 000 operating cycles. The team claims that these super capacitors are capable of working even for self-powered system applications that have intermittent source of power.