A novel ultramicro supercapacitor with ultrahigh charge storage capability
https://techxplore.com/news/2023-03-ult ... ility.html
by Pratibha Gopalakrishna, Indian Institute of Science
Researchers at the Department of Instrumentation and Applied Physics (IAP), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), have designed a novel ultramicro supercapacitor, a tiny device capable of storing an enormous amount of electric charge. It is also much smaller and more compact than existing supercapacitors and can potentially be used in many devices ranging from streetlights to consumer electronics, electric cars and medical devices.
Most of these devices are currently powered by batteries. However, over time, these batteries lose their ability to store charge and therefore have a limited shelf-life. Capacitors, on the other hand, can store electric charge for much longer, by virtue of their design. For example, a capacitor operating at 5 volts will continue to operate at the same voltage even after a decade. But unlike batteries, they cannot discharge energy constantly—to power a mobile phone, for example.
Supercapacitors, on the other hand, combine the best of both batteries and capacitors—they can store as well as release large amounts of energy, and are therefore highly sought-after for next-generation electronic devices.
In the current study, published in ACS Energy Letters, the researchers fabricated their supercapacitor using Field Effect Transistors or FETs as the charge collectors, instead of the metallic electrodes that are used in existing capacitors. "Using FET as an electrode for supercapacitors is something new for tuning charge in a capacitor," says Abha Misra, Professor at IAP and corresponding author of the study.