New super-capacitor technology provides electricity at high-power rates

Researchers from Surrey’s Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) recently introduced a super-capacity technology derived from a material called Polyaniline (PANI). The team believes the technology could make a big difference to electric vehicles and will reduce any renewable-based energy loss for the national grid.

Additionally, it’s expected that this new super-capacitor technology will play a significant role in the advancement of solar, wave, and wind energy by modifying the intermittent nature of these energy sources.

“The future of global energy will depend on consumers and industry using and generating energy more efficiently and super-capacitors have already proven to be one of the leading technologies for intermittent storage, as well as high power delivery,” said the lead scientist on the project and Ph. D student from the University, Ash Stott.

What Is PANI?
Polyaniline is a low-cost, polymer material that stores energy through a mechanism known as “pseudocapacitance.” The electrode stores charge by trapping ions within the electrode. It does this by exchanging electrons with the ion, which “dopes” the material.

“Our work, has established a baseline for high energy devices that also operate at high power, effectively widening the range of potential applications,” explained Ash.

How does It work?
In a paper published by the journal Energy and Environmental Materials, the researchers detail how they developed the three-layer composite using carbon nanotubes, PANI, and hydrothermal carbon, which demonstrates remarkable rate-capability at high energy densities, independent of the power use.

“This highly ambitious and impactful work has the potential to change the way we all live our lives — and it might be what is needed to make the change for an efficient and fast charging solution of harvested energy from the environment,” said the director of ATI at the University of Surrey, Professor Ravi Silva.

This technology is also expected to have a deep impact on several industries including wearable technology, mobile Internet of Things applications, etc.