The aim of this project is to investigate the use of sustainable, inexpensive and stable elements to develop nanomaterials for aqueous and non-aqueous hybrid supercapacitors (modified energy storage devices capable of rapidly charging and discharging). The project will also investigate the use of highly conductive electrode additives for increased power density and pseudocapacitive (storing charge via fast surface chemical processes) materials for enhanced energy density.
The novel science and methodology
A high throughput materials discovery approach to nanomaterials synthesis will be used to produce libraries of materials to be tested as hybrid supercapacitors. The materials will be mixed with a suitable conductive carbons and a binder to form electrodes, which are then investigated electrochemically to identify lead materials. These are then formed into balanced energy storage devices with activated carbon as the cathode to the nanomaterial anode. These devices are then subjected to power, energy and stability tests to identify the best performing materials. High performance materials will then be scaled up and fully characterised chemically, physically and structurally to determine composition/activity relationships and produce design rules for future materials. Applications for hybrid supercapacitor devices include powering mobile phones, regenerative breaking, hybrid and electric vehicles and unmanned drones, amongst others.