According to foreign media New Atlas, supercapacitors have the potential to pave the way for electric vehicles, which can be charged in minutes, overcome one of the obstacles to widespread adoption, and are beneficial to drivers and the environment. Scientists at Texas A&M University have demonstrated a plant-based supercapacitor with excellent energy storage potential, which is a step towards achieving this goal.
Supercapacitors can be charged almost instantly and release huge amounts of energy when needed. It is a kind of energy storage technology with great potential. We have seen some interesting developments in manufacturing equipment from sustainable materials, including recycled plastic bottles, cigarettes and even discarded cigarette butts.
The team at Texas A&M University hopes to use a natural polymer called lignin to give plants and trees rigidity. This is mass-produced as a waste product by the paper industry. In fact, we have seen some interesting breakthroughs in efforts to recycle this polymer into other products, such as stronger concrete and 3D printed bio-pulp.
However, the authors of the new study hope to use it as a material for supercapacitor electrodes-manganese dioxide. Compared with other solutions, the nanoparticles of this compound provide many benefits, but the electrochemical performance is where they tend to decrease.
"Compared with other transition metal oxides (such as ruthenium or zinc oxide), manganese dioxide is cheaper, more available, and safer. These transition metal oxides are commonly used to make electrodes," said research author Liang Hong . "But one of the main disadvantages of manganese dioxide is its low conductivity."
Previous studies have shown that the combination of lignin and metal oxides can improve the electrical properties of supercapacitor electrodes, but the team hopes to study how to specifically enhance the function of manganese dioxide. So they designed a supercapacitor in which these two components constitute a key component.
The team first purified the lignin in a common disinfectant, and then applied heat and pressure to decompose the liquid and deposit manganese dioxide on the lignin. Then use this mixture to coat an aluminum plate to form an electrode, and then pair it with another electrode made of aluminum and activated carbon to form a supercapacitor with a gel electrolyte in between.
The researchers said that this new device is lightweight, flexible, and cost-effective, increasing its potential as a structural energy storage component for automobiles. They also report that it has withstood an excellent test in tests and found that it has "very stable electrochemical properties" and that it maintains the ability to store charge over thousands of cycles.
Researchers have compared their performance with other advanced supercapacitor designs through existing literature, including those whose electrodes are made entirely of activated carbon, or those in which graphene is combined with other materials. In terms of capacitance, it performs better than them, which is usually used to measure the stored charge of the device. When compared with a supercapacitor with electrodes made of tin diselenide, the new device provides 900 times the capacitance.
"Integrating biomaterials into energy storage devices has always been tricky, because it is difficult to control the electrical performance they generate, which then severely affects the life cycle and performance of the equipment." Liang Hong said. "In addition, the production process of biological materials generally includes chemical treatment, which is harmful to humans. We have designed an environmentally friendly energy storage device that has excellent electrical performance and can be easily and safely manufactured at a much lower cost. ."
The research was published in the journal Energy Storage.
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