A new graphene supercapacitor store battery-level energy and recharges immediately, redefining rapid power storage.
Engineers have obtained major milestone in the worldwide effort to design energy storage systems that integrate high speed with robust power output, starting new possibilities for electric motors, grid stabilization, and customer electronics.
In a paper currently posted in Nature Communications, the research group presented a brand new sort of carbon-based material that permits supercapacitors to store as much energy as conventional lead-acid batteries while supplying power at a much rapid rate than conventional battery systems.
Unlocking the full potential of supercapacitors
Supercapacitors are an growing form of energy storage that store electrical charge electrostatically instead of through chemical reactions, as batteries do. Previously, their efficiency has been limited due to the fact simplest a small part of the carbon material’s surface area —the important factor for storing energy—has been available to be used.
Professor Mainak Majumder, Director of the ARC Research Hub for Advanced Manufacturing with 2D Materials (AM2D), based totally in Monash’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, was a member of the research group.
“Our group has demonstrate the way to unlock much more of that surface region through just changing the way the material is heat-treated with,” stated Professor Majumder.
“This discovery may want to permit us to construct rapid-charging supercapacitors that store sufficient energy to replace batteries in lots of applications, and supply it a far more rapidly.”
Multiscale decreased graphene oxide: the important innovation
The secret lies in a new material architecture evolved through the team, called multiscale decreased graphene oxide (M-rGO), that’s synthesized from natural graphite – an ample Australian resource.
Using a fast thermal annealing procedure, the researchers generated a highly curved graphene shape with accurate pathways for ions to transport fast and efficiently. The end result is a material that gives both high power density and high power density – a combination not often obtained in a single device.
Record-breaking overall performance and scalability
Dr. Petar Jovanović, a research fellow within the ARC AM2D Hub and co-author of the study, stated when assembled into pouch cell devices, the Monash supercapacitors introduced:
- Volumetric energy densities reaching 99.5 Wh/L (using ionic liquid electrolytes)
- Power densities as high as 69.2 kW/L
- Rapid charging overall performance with first rate cycle balance
“These overall performance metrics are a few of the best ever reported for carbon-based supercapacitors, and essential, the process is scalable and well suited with Australian raw materials,” Dr Jovanović stated.
Dr Phillip Aitchison, CTO of Monash University spinout Ionic Industries, and a co-author of the study, stated the technology is now being commercialized.
“Ionic Industries was established to commercialize development such as those, and we are now making industrial quantities of those graphene materials,” stated Dr Aitchison.
“We’re operating with energy storage partners to bring this breakthrough to market-led applications – where both high energy and rapid power delivery are important.”
