Researchers at the University of Central Florida (UCF) have built on NASA technologies to develop a structure for electric cars that, in addition to increasing their power capacity, is as strong as steel and stronger lighter than aluminum.
This ‘special suit’ is made of layered carbon composite material. And it functions as a hybrid supercapacitor-battery device that stores energy thanks to its unique design at the nanoscale level.
According to the researchers, it could have applications in a range of technologies that require lightweight sources of power, from electric vehicles to spacecraft, airplanes, drones, wearable devices and wearable technology.
“The supercapacitor composite material would get its energy through charging, like a battery, just like when the car brakes”
«Our idea is to use the shells of the body to store energy that complements that stored in the batteries»says study co-author Jayan Thomas, team leader and professor in the UCF Nanoscience Technology Center and Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
“The advantage is that this compound can reduce the weight of a car and increase the kilometers per charge”, it says. “It’s as strong or even stronger than steel, but much lighter.”
How is this made
To build the material, the researchers created positively and negatively charged carbon fiber layerswhich when stacked and bonded in an alternating pattern, create a strong compound that stores energy.
The nanoscale graphene sheets bonded into carbon fiber layers allow for greater charge storage capacity, while metal oxides deposited on the connected electrodes enhance voltage and provide higher energy density.
This gives the supercapacitor-battery hybrid its unprecedented energy storage capacity and charging life cycle.
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25% more autonomy
the material of Energy storage, when used as a car body shell, has the potential to increase the range of an electric car by 25%, which means a vehicle of 320 km. per charge it could travel an additional 80 kilometers and reduce its total weight.
Acting like supercapacitorit would also increase the power of an electric car, giving it the extra boost it needs to go from 0 to 100 km/h in 3 seconds.
“This application, as well as many others, could be on the horizon one day as technology advances in its readiness level,” says Luke Roberson, study co-author and principal investigator for research and development at the NASA Kennedy Space Center.
“In cars, the supercapacitor composite material would get its energy through charging, like a battery, just like when the car brakes,” says Thomas. “Its charge-discharge cycle life is 10 times longer than an electric car battery”.
It is non-toxic and does not ignite
In addition, the materials used are environmentally friendly in the sense that they are non-toxic and non-flammable, which is very important for the safety of passengers in the event of an accident. “This is a huge improvement over previous approaches that have suffered from issues with toxic material, flammable organic electrolytes, low cycle times, or poor performance,” says Thomas.
Due to its unique design using multiple layers of carbon fiber, the material has a significant impact and flexural strengthessential for auto collision resistance as well as significant tensile strength.
This is how the method that UCF is developing works.
“Now in electric cars, the battery is 30% to 40% of the weight,” says Kowsik Sambath Kumar, co-author of the study. “With this energy storage compound, we can get additional mileage without increasing the weight of the battery, which further reduces vehicle weight, while maintaining high tensile, flex and impact strength. Any time you decrease that weight, you can increase range, so this has huge applications in electric cars and aviation.”
The technology is currently at a technology readiness level of 5which means that it has been tested in a relevant environment before being tested in a real environment, such as in space flight, which would be a level 6 test.
To pass the final level of testing, level 9, and reach the commercial environment, further development and testing focused on commercial applications will be required.”
Source: UCF