Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden has started a project to create microcapacitors with the potential to revolutionize the way we use batteries.
The new technologies associated with batteries have become the key to the future of the electrification of transport and industry, so it is common to discover innovative methods that aim to increase performance and sustainability of these important elements.
In that sense, the Chalmers University of TechnologySweden, is working on what it sees as a key combination with the potential to revolutionize the battery industry, not just for electric cars, but for any type of electronic device.
supercapacitors
The key to the project lies in manufacturing small-sized supercapacitors. Supercapacitors consist of two electrical conductors separated by an insulating layer. They can store electrical energy and have many positive properties compared to a normal battery, such as much faster charging, more efficient distribution of energy, and a much longer lifespan without loss of performance, with respect to the charge and discharge cycle.
When a supercapacitor is combined with a battery in an electrical product, the battery life can be extended many times, up to 4 times for commercial electric vehicles. And whether it’s for personal electronic devices or industrial technologies, the benefits to the end consumer could be enormous.
“Of course, it would be very convenient to be able to quickly charge, for example, an electric car or not having to change or charge batteries as often like we currently do on our smartphones,” says Agin Vyas, PhD student in the Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience at Chalmers University of Technology and lead author of the paper.
“But also would represent a great environmental benefit and would be much more sustainableif the batteries had a longer useful life and did not need to be recycled in complicated processes, “he says.
Why micro-supercapacitors?
Supercapacitors, however, have a major drawback when it comes to being applied in practice: currently they are too big for many applications where they could be useful.
And it is that they should be about the same size as the battery they are connected to, which is an obstacle to integrating them into mobile phones or electric cars. Therefore, much of the current research and development of supercapacitors is about making them significantly smaller.
“Our method is scalable and would involve reducing the costs of the manufacturing process”
Agin Vyas and his colleagues have been working on the development of ‘micro’ supercapacitors. These are so small that they can fit into the system circuitry that controls various functions. in mobile phones, computers, electric motors and almost all the electronics we use today. This solution is also called “system on a chip”.
One of the most important challenges is that the minimum units must be manufactured in such a way that they are compatible with other components in a system circuit and can be easily adapted for different areas of use. The new study demonstrates a manufacturing process in which micro-supercapacitors integrate with the most common way of building system circuits (known as CMOS).
“We use a method known as spin coating, a fundamental technique in many manufacturing processes. This allows us to choose different electrode materials. We also use alkylamine chains in reduced graphene oxideto show how this leads to increased charging and storage capacity,” explains Agin Vyas.
«Our method is scalable and would involve reducing the costs of the manufacturing process. It represents a major step forward in production technology and an important step towards the practical application of micro-supercapacitors in both everyday electronics and industrial applications.”
A method has also been developed to produce micro-supercapacitors of up to ten different materials in a unified manufacturing process, which means properties can be easily tailored to suit a number of different end applications.
Source: Chalmers University