Graphene Supercapacitors: Introduction and News - Page 2

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.

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. This new update includes many updates from various projects and research activities 

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 Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Korea Institute of Industrial Technology and Konkuk University have fabricated highly deformable graphene-based micro supercapacitors (MSCs) using liquid metal current collectors on an elastic polymer substrate.

a Illustration of an integrated system comprising soft-electronics and deformable energy storage component. b The fabrication process of EGaIn-based MSC. c UV-vis spectra of SEBS, EGaIn, and graphene. FE-SEM images of laser ablated d Graphene/EGaIn and e EGaIn (Scale bar = 200 µm). Photographs of f institute logos, g deformed logos, and h an LED connected to the MSC circuit (Scale bar = 1 cm). (Image from npj Flexible Electronics)

The team used eutectic gallium-indium (EGaIn), a liquid metal alloy, as the current collector since a deformable current collector is needed in order to create a deformable MSC. Commonly used current collectors made of brittle materials like gold (Au) are not suitable in this case, so the team turned to 'liquid metal' that inherently possesses the properties of a liquid and metallic conductivity.

Researchers from China University of Petroleum (East China), Henan Agricultural University and Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed an additive-free 3D printing process to construct graphene micro-supercapacitors (MSCs) with unprecedented electrochemical properties and seamless integrability. The team states that this achievement overcomes existing manufacturing limitations and brings closer the on-chip MSC arrays essential for the next generation of wearables.

Wearable devices require ever-smaller on-board energy solutions that can deliver bursts of power while remaining unobtrusive. Rigid coin batteries restrict device flexibility and ergonomics. Leading microscale alternatives include micro-supercapacitors (MSCs), which store and discharge energy rapidly owing to highly porous electrode materials interfacing with electrolytes. Supercapacitors’ quick charge ability and resilience to repeated charging cycles make them appealing to supplement batteries. However, difficulties producing intricately designed MSC devices that also offer high performance have confined MSCs to the lab. Conventional manufacturing techniques often lack suitable precision, flexibility, and scalability.

Cap-XX will receive a A$1m (around USD$666,700) R&D development grant from the Australian Taxation Office. 

The supercapacitors developer has signed a joint venture agreement with Ionic Industries for the exclusive commercialization of the latter’s graphene oxide technology. This will help to increase electrode density in supercapacitors. 

The Australian Research Council (ARC) has announced the launch of the ARC Research Hub for advanced manufacturing with 2D Materials. The hub aims to develop the application of 2D materials for water treatment, batteries, functional paints and coatings and other key areas of economic and technological interest.

“The ARC proudly supports research excellence that positively impacts everyday Australians and this is evident in the establishment of the ARC Research Hub for advanced manufacturing with 2D Materials,” said Dr. Richard Johnson, deputy chief executive officer, ARC. “Among the research outcomes expected to emerge from the hub will be high-powered, low-cost graphene-based supercapacitors, capable of storing energy for use in electric vehicles, as well as improvements in the supply chain of materials used in the manufacturing of these devices, allowing industry to thrive,” continued Dr. Johnson.

Australia-based energy storage solutions developer EnyGy has been working on a graphene-enhanced supercapacitor that can provide "increased energy storage capacity within the same package size,  known as enhanced energy density, enabling the realization of compact, fast energy storage", according to CEO Wiehann de Klerk.

The Company stated that the supercapacitor, called enyGcap, is currently undergoing trials, with a market launch expected in 2024.

Researchers at Texas A&M University recently discovered that when charging a supercapacitor, it stores energy and responds by stretching and expanding. This insight could be help design new materials for flexible electronics or other devices that need to be both strong and store energy efficiently.

The team measured stresses that developed in graphene-based supercapacitor electrodes and correlated the stresses to how ions move in and out of the material. For example, when a capacitor is cycled, each electrode stores and releases ions that can cause it to swell and contract. According to the team, this repeated motion can cause the build-up of mechanical stresses, resulting in device failure. To combat this, the research looks to create an instrument that measures mechanical stresses and strains in energy storage materials as they charge and discharge.

A research team, led by Soongeun Kwon from the Department of Nano Manufacturing Technology at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) and Professor Young-Jin Kim from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Engineering (KAIST), has reported the development of customized graphene-based e-textiles.

Unlike most conventional methods that rely on toxic chemicals or optical masks for patterning, the research team used laser-direct patterning technology to create laser-induced graphene (LIG) on e-textiles. This approach led to the production of graphene-based e-textiles. The team converted raw Kevlar textiles to electrically conductive laser-induced graphene (LIG) via femtosecond laser pulses in ambient air.