In an article written by the well-known science writer, Philip Ball, for the Energy Quarterly feature of MRS Bulletin, published by Cambridge University Press, researcher Yury Gogotsi describes how the supercapacitor has the potential to become a big player in the global search for reliable green energy.
Supercapacitors are already allowing trams in Mannheim, Germany, to use 30 per cent less energy than their equivalents in other cities. In China, supercapacitor technology has been embraced so fervently over just the past four years that tens of thousands of 'supercap buses' are now on the roads.
Gogotsi, professor of materials science and engineering at Drexel University in Philadelphia, explains supercapacitors as power-storage devices that can supply onboard electrical power in hybrid vehicles. Whereas batteries store energy in chemical-form in substances that can react to release electricity, energy-capacitors store it by simply piling up electrical charge on two electrodes. The larger the electrodes and the closer they are, the more energy can be stored.
Unlike batteries, supercapacitors can be charged and discharged in seconds and can withstand many hundreds of thousands of charging cycles. This is ideal for energy-saving applications that use opportunities for recharging, such as energy capture during braking.
Read the full article on this link.
MRS Bulletin is one of the most widely recognised and highly respected publications in advanced materials research.
Reproduced courtesy of Cambridge University Press. For more news stories visit www.cambridge.org; for more information contact Vicky Westmore at press@cambridge.org