Posted on 03/17/2012 7:27:04 AM PDT by Wonder Warthog
Electrochemical capacitors (ECs), also known as supercapacitors or ultracapacitors, differ from regular capacitors that you would find in your TV or computer in that they store sustantially higher amounts of charges. They have garnered attention as energy storage devices as they charge and discharge faster than batteries, yet they are still limited by low energy densities, only a fraction of the energy density of batteries. An EC that combines the power performance of capacitors with the high energy density of batteries would represent a significant advance in energy storage technology. This requires new electrodes that not only maintain high conductivity but also provide higher and more accessible surface area than conventional ECs that use activated carbon electrodes.
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LSG (laser scribed graphene) electrodes are mechanically robust and show high conductivity (>1700 S/m) compared to activated carbons (10-100 S/m). This means that LSG electrodes can be directly used as supercapacitor electrodes without the need for binders or current collectors as is the case for conventional activated carbon ECs. Furthermore, these properties allow LSG to act as both the active material and current collector in the EC. The combination of both functions in a single layer leads to a simplified architecture and makes LSG supercapacitors cost-effective devices.
"Our study demonstrates that our new graphene-based supercapacitors store as much charge as conventional batteries, but can be charged and discharged a hundred to a thousand times faster," said Richard B. Kaner, professor of chemistry & materials science and engineering.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
Wasn't it Toshiba that had their batteries with the iron hydride anodes just kind of slagging out?
Their name comes up in our LANR articles ~ must be something they really want to know about.
“but can be . . . discharged a hundred to a thousand times faster”
If one shorts out in your mobile device, it might let the smoke out.
this is the reincarnation of PCBs lol
Northern Graphite Corp. (NGC-TSV) is one of a very few graphite mining companies in North America, and is partnering with industry on graphene (1 molecule thick graphite) research. Pay close attention to the word in your various RSS feeds; its potential is hugh, series and very real.
I have wondered about this, generally...energy density is a Good Thing, and so is rapid charge/discharge, but in the event of a mechanical failure or deformation, where does the energy go?
Most capacitors have a self-discharge rate much higher than batteries - but good, cheap ultracapacitors might be very useful for “burst” power or storing energy from braking, and so on.
I had to start getting real interested in this stuff about 18 years ago when our shop moved into an office building on the next to top floor where the top floor had a Faraday Cage construction throughout (for testing Space Shuttle parts). The Sun toked up a bit, spewed out all sorts of stuff, and sure as shooting every day how many ever minutes it took after Sunup for extra charge to hit that building, that's when my computer system cabling would pick up "static".
Oh, yeah, just ordinary static ~ but in a DEC system that's all it took to destroy connectivity. We tried all sorts of shielding ~ then we finally realized that the electric charge buildup on the Faraday Cage surface was actually a FLOW, and it was discharging into the metal pipes that served the heat exchanger for the AC in the computer room.
The solution was "pray for rain".
It looks like graphene will be the next big thing and that commercially viable applications are going to happen in the next decade. Thanks for posting this.
The cause was tracked to static generated by the removal of a paper towel from the dispenser on the shared wall.
I could spin 180 degrees from my desk to my PC, and either have it reset, or cause problems for the machine next to my desk just by having my metal watchband touch the metal table.
I'd buy (and expense) static guard and spray every now and then.
Supercapacitors are a lot of fun when they discharge thousands of times faster than a conventional battery.
Uh, what practical capacitors for the last 90+ years have not been electrochemical in nature (the paper-in-oil capacitor has been around since the 1920s)? I swear, these ScienceDaily writers prove themselves the dumbest bunch of apes on the planet, again and again. Does your garden variety cap contain an electrolyte? Well, there you go!
The point here isn't the electolyte. It's the electrodes, which is what actually stores and releases the charge(s).
The stuff has many unique properties. But I think graphene will prove to be just the beginning of what we discover about highly ordered/structured materials, and not just those of carbon.
Yeah, and that is exactly the point these idiots miss in their very first sentence, which I quoted and which you somehow forget to remember in your reply.
To...ahem..recap: The idiots equate in the first sentence electrochemical capacitors with the new 'super capacitors', wholly oblivious to the fact that most all caps are in fact electrochemical caps. Just how hard is that to understand???!!! You see, these idiots don't have even a basic grasp of simple first principles. q.e.d.
"This requires new electrodes that not only maintain high conductivity but also provide higher and more accessible surface area than conventional ECs that use activated carbon electrodes."
I think your "outrage" is less than justified.
And I expect no better from journalists (even science journalists).
Certainly within the next decade ~ and possibly moving into a serious market niche faster than E paper & E ink.
No outrage here. Just some exasperation over a particularly dumb way to start an article, whatever was written later notwithstanding. And the fact that I’ve noticed they always write some particularly dumb things in their articles. Oh well, I’ll just stop clicking on articles from that source. Problem solved!
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