Supercapacitors

Researchers from Korea's DGIST, Kyungpook National University, France's University of Bordeaux (CNRS), Collège de France and Japan's Komaba Institute for Science (KIS) recently designed a solar-powered faradaic supercapacitor, with a graphene layer as its anode, that can reportedly achieve a power density of 2,555.6 W kg and an energy efficiency of 63%. The system uses nickel-based compounds to enhance the electrochemical performance of its electrodes.

Schematic of the system. Image from: PV Magazine, credit: Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST)

To build these electrodes, the scientists used a nickel-based carbonate and hydroxide composite material, which are said to optimize their conductivity and stability. They initially tested transition metal ions such as manganese (Mn), carbon monoxide (Co), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), and zinc (Zn) and found that the optimal nanostructure of the electrodes depended on the transition metals used.

Versarien has announced that its 90%-owned subsidiary Gnanomat has been awarded a €0.8 million (around USD$840,000) grant to support a two-year project focused on next-generation energy storage devices. 

Versarien said that the grant was expected to be received in a single payment before the end of 2024. It said the funding would cover 70% of Gnanomat's anticipated costs for the development of GnanoCaps, an energy storage device leveraging the company's proprietary hybrid nanomaterials platform. GnanoCaps was designed to combine the high power and rapid recharge capabilities of supercapacitors with improved energy delivery, enhanced safety, and the use of clean electrolytes, eliminating explosion risks associated with lithium-ion batteries.

It was recently announced that HydroGraph Clean Power entered into two significant alliances in battery materials with Volfpack Energy and NEI Corporation.

The first agreement with NEI focuses on developing graphene-enhanced battery materials, featuring co-branded products and positioning NEI as a key channel partner for HydroGraph's graphene materials in the battery market. The second deal with Volfpack Energy focuses on the development of next-generation supercapacitors using HydroGraph's fractal graphene technology.

Researchers at NETL, a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory, have developed a low-cost process for converting coal tar waste into high-quality graphene. The team stressed that the resulting can increase the performance of energy-storing supercapacitor systems by up to 55%.

Schematic illustration of the synthesis process of 3D graphene. Image from: Small Methods

According to NETL’s Christopher Matranga, one of the authors of the study, graphene has long been considered an ideal supercapacitor electrode material, but its use in commercial devices is limited because there are few methods for producing high-quality graphene at a large scale at a low cost.

The Victorian government’s AUD$1 million (around USD$650,000) Made In Victoria Energy Technologies Manufacturing program will be awarded to four Victorian businesses manufacturing renewable energy technology components and products. 

Among its recipients is graphene technologies company EnGy, which will use its grant to scale up graphene materials production.

Researchers at the Technical University of Liberec (Czech Republic) and Lodz University of Technology (Poland) have developed a silver/graphene flexible composite electrode using inkjet printing technology for high-performance supercapacitors. 

The scientists chose rGO as the primary material for the electrode active layer. The rGO active layer was in-situ printed and reduced on the polypropylene non-woven fabric, and silver nanoparticles were simultaneously inserted and reduced to increase the interlayer spacing of the rGO active layer, which effectively reduced the self-stacking effect of rGO and improved the overall electrochemical performance. 

Today we published a new edition of our Graphene Supercapacitors Market Report, with all the latest information. The supercapacitor market and industry is facing high demand and graphene is a pivotal material for this application.

Reading this report, you'll learn all about:

• The advantages of using graphene in supercapacitors
• Various types of graphene materials
• Market insights and forecasts
• What's on the market today

The report package also provides:

• A list of all graphene companies involved with supercapacitors
• Prominent research activity in this field
• Free updates for a year

This Graphene Supercapacitors market report provides a great introduction to graphene materials used in the supercapacitor market, and covers everything you need to know about graphene in this niche. This is a great guide for anyone involved with the supercapacitor market, nanomaterials, electric vehicles and mobile devices.

Researchers from Italy's Sapienza University of Rome, Portugal's International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), University of Minho and Universidade de Lisboa have developed a sustainable approach to produce an electrically conductive, graphene-based paste suitable for fabricating flexible devices such as microsupercapacitors (mSCs).

The new method enables the scalable, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly production of high-quality graphene materials, paving the way for advanced applications in energy storage and flexible electronics.

HydroGraph Clean Power has announced that its flagship graphene product, FGA-1, has been chosen by Volfpack Energy, a hardware company focused on using supercapacitor technology to increase the adoption of renewable energy across Asia. 

Its flagship product, fractal graphene, FGA-1, was chosen by Volfpack to be the base material of the supercapacitor design after Volfpack’s engineers determined that it outperformed materials traditionally used in supercapacitors, such as activated carbon, by 4x.

Researchers from Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Korea Institute of Industrial Technology and Konkuk University have reported the development of a small-scale energy storage device capable of stretching, twisting, folding, and wrinkling. 

Nine MSC units connected in three parallel and three series. Image from npj Flexible Electronics

Micro supercapacitors (MSCs) have emerged as a promising candidate for deformable energy storage, due to high-power density, rapid charging, and long cycle life. However, the fabrication of interdigitated electrode patterns capable of maintaining the energy storage performance under repeated stretching and twisting has remained a great challenge, because brittle materials like gold (Au) have been commonly used as an electrode.