Supercapacitor Technology

Supercapacitors are most interesting in the area of rechargeable battery based energy storage because they offer an unbeatable power density, quick charge/discharge rates and prolonged lifetimes in comparison to batteries. The book covers inorganic, organic and gel-polymer electrolytes, electrodes and separators used in different types of supercapacitors; with emphasis on material synthesis, characterization, fundamental electrochemical properties and most promising applications. Keywords: Supercapacitors, Rechargeable Batteries, Organic Electrolytes, Inorganic Electrolytes, Gel Polymer based Supercapacitors, Redox Electrolytes, Starch-Based Electrolytes, Flexible Supercapacitors, Pseudocapacitors, Carbon Nanoarchitectures for Supercapacitors, Photo-Supercapacitors, Bimetal Oxides/Sulfides for Electrochemical Supercapacitors.

Energy storage is a key topic for research, industry, and business, which is gaining increasing interest. Any available energy-storage technology (batteries, fuel cells, flywheels, and so on) can cover a limited part of the power-energy plane and is characterized by some inherent drawback. Supercapacitors (also known as ultracapacitors, electrochemical capacitors, pseudocapacitors, or double-layer capacitors) feature exceptional capacitance values, creating new scenarios and opportunities in both research and industrial applications, partly because the related market is relatively recent. In practice, supercapacitors can offer a trade-off between the high specific energy of batteries and the high specific power of traditional capacitors. Developments in supercapacitor technology and supporting electronics, combined with reductions in costs, may revolutionize everything from large power systems to consumer electronics. The potential benefits of supercapacitors move from the progresses in the technological processes but can be effective by the availability of the proper tools for testing, modeling, diagnosis, sizing, management and technical-economic analyses. This book collects some of the latest developments in the field of supercapacitors, ranging from new materials to practical applications, such as energy storage, uninterruptible power supplies, smart grids, electrical vehicles, advanced transportation and renewable sources.

Application fields of supercapacitors are expanding because they have a very large charge/discharge current density and a cycle durability of tens of thousands of cycles or more compared to secondary batteries. There are various kinds of supercapacitor: electric double layer capacitors with a relatively long history, pseudocapacitors that utilize electrochemical reactions, and the progress of hybrid capacitor technology that combines double layer capacity and electrochemical reactions. Development of electrode materials and electrolytes and new cell design for constructing devices support the performance improvement and expansion of new applied fields such as automobiles, heavy machinery, and energy harvesting. This book aims to provide engineers with the opportunity to review the latest information by integrating cutting-edge papers on science, technology, and the application of supercapacitors.

The first model for the distribution of ions near the surface of a metal electrode was devised by Helmholtz in 1874. He envisaged two parallel sheets of charges of opposite sign located one on the metal surface and the other on the solution side, a few nanometers away, exactly as in the case of a parallel plate capacitor. The rigidity of such a model was allowed for by Gouy and Chapman inde pendently, by considering that ions in solution are subject to thermal motion so that their distribution from the metal surface turns out diffuse. Stern recognized that ions in solution do not behave as point charges as in the Gouy-Chapman treatment, and let the center of the ion charges reside at some distance from the metal surface while the distribution was still governed by the Gouy-Chapman view. Finally, in 1947, D. C. Grahame transferred the knowledge of the struc ture of electrolyte solutions into the model of a metal/solution interface, by en visaging different planes of closest approach to the electrode surface depending on whether an ion is solvated or interacts directly with the solid wall. Thus, the Gouy-Chapman-Stern-Grahame model of the so-called electrical double layer was born, a model that is still qualitatively accepted, although theoreti cians have introduced a number of new parameters of which people were not aware 50 years ago.

Electrochemical Membrane Technology will have a strong impact on electrochemical and membrane separation research in the future and will contribute significantly to academic training and the well-being of human society. This book will include a comprehensive discussion of SWOT analysis of each electrochemical membrane technology, and the discussion of energy production from electrochemical membrane technologies in a separate chapter. This will be based theoretical and experimental studies on electrochemical membrane technologies and applications. Written for chemical and environmental engineers, professors and other university teachers, research scientists, graduate students, water treatment managers, research institutions, and Research and Development departments of industries involved in sustainable water treatment and coproduction of valuable products from water treatment technologies. Provides comparative analysis of energy production from electrochemical membrane technologies and a comprehensive analysis of the recent advances in these technologies Discusses the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats/challenges (SWOT) of each electrochemical membrane technology Addresses the importance energy co-production

Supercapacitors: Materials, Design, and Commercialization provides a comprehensive overview of the latest research trends and opportunities in supercapacitors, and particularly in terms of novel materials and electrolytes.The book will address the transformation in supercapacitive technology from double layer capacitance to battery-type capacitance, providing a clear understanding of the conceptual differences between various charge storage processes for supercapacitors, charge storage based on materials and electrolytes, and calculation for capacitance for these charge processes. Detailed chapters discuss recent developments in materials, such as carbons, chalcogenides, MXene and phosphorene, various polymer nanocomposites, and polyoxometalates for supercapacitors. This is followed by in-depth coverage of electrolytes, including the evolution of electrolytes from aqueous to water-in-salt electrolytes and their role in improving the energy density of supercapacitors. The final part of the book examines the role of artificial intelligence in the design of supercapacitors, and latest developments in translating novel supercapacitor technologies from laboratory-scale research to a commercialization.This is a valuable resource for advanced students, researchers, and scientists in the fields of energy storage, electrical engineering, materials science, and chemical engineering, as well as engineers and R&D personnel working with supercapacitors or energy storage in an industrial setting. Brings together the latest developments in supercapacitor materials and electrolytes Discusses cutting-edge charge storage concepts and methods for supercapacitors Addresses the role of machine learning and the scale-up from laboratory to commercialization

Materials for Supercapacitor Applications provides a snapshot of the present status of this rapidly growing field. It covers motivations, innovations, ongoing breakthroughs in research and development, innovative materials, impacts, and perspectives, as well as the challenges and technical barriers to identifying an ideal material for practical applications. This comprehensive reference by electro-chemists explains concepts in materials selection and their unique applications based on their electro-chemical properties. Chemists, chemical and electrical engineers, material scientists, and research scholars and students interested in energy will benefit from this overview of many important reference points in understanding the materials used in supercapacitors. Provides an overview of the formulation for new materials and how to characterize them for supercapacitor applications Describes all the information on the available materials for supercapacitor applications Outlines potential material characterization methods Discusses perspectives and future directions of the field

This book discusses the instrumentation of supercapacitors, various measurement procedures and the techniques used for the performance evaluation, to help determine the appropriate methodology for the evaluation of a supercapacitor device and also to identify the inconsistencies between the device performance and electrode material properties. As a promising energy storage option, supercapacitors need to be readied for commercialization rather than confined within the niche of academic research. This book also assists in the formulation of strict performance guidelines aided by realistic evaluation techniques, so that these devices can be made available to society through industrial production. As such it is an important read not only for academicians and researchers, but also for industry and policymakers.