2023-08-03 14:15:54
A low-cost supercapacitor made from very common materials could make clean energy storage cheaper and even give home foundations the added function of energy storage.
Capacitors are, in principle, very simple devices, consisting of two electrically conducting plates immersed in an electrolyte and separated by a membrane. When a voltage is applied across the capacitor, positively charged ions from the electrolyte accumulate on the negatively charged plate, while the positively charged plate accumulates negatively charged ions. Since the membrane between the plates blocks the migration of charged ions, this charge separation creates an electric field between the plates and the capacitor charges. The two plates can hold this pair of charges for a long time and then deliver them very quickly when needed. Supercapacitors are simply capacitors that can store exceptionally large charges.
Supercapacitors are being used more and more and are going to prove essential for many cutting-edge technologies. In addition, they can replace batteries in some functions. Unfortunately, the cost of supercapacitors has been considerable.
Two of humanity’s most historically common materials, cement and the material commonly called “carbon black,” may form the basis of a novel low-cost energy storage system, according to a new study by an integrated team, among others, by Nicolas Chanut, Franz-Josef Ulm, Admir Masic and Yang-Shao Horn, all four from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States.
The new technology could facilitate the use of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and tidal power, by allowing power grids to remain stable despite fluctuations in renewable energy uptake.
The research team found that these two materials can be combined with water to make a supercapacitor.
The new condenser, made only of cement, water and carbon black, could form the basis of cheap systems capable of storing renewable energy that is directly obtained only intermittently, as is the case with solar energy or wind power. (Photo: Franz-Josef Ulm / Admir Masic / Yang-Shao Horn. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)
The MIT researchers who have devised this new supercapacitor believe it could be embedded in a home’s concrete foundation, where it could store a full day’s worth of solar or wind energy and add little (if anything) to the cost of the foundation. These, on the other hand, would not be weakened and would continue to provide the necessary structural strength. The researchers have also devised a type of road in which a layer of concrete would house the supercapacitor system that could provide electrical charging, without the need for physical contact, to electric cars traveling on that road.
Chanut and his colleagues discuss the technical details of their new technology in the academic journal PNAS, under the title “Carbon-cement supercapacitors as a scalable bulk energy storage solution.” (Source: NCYT from Amazings)
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