High-performance supercapacitors developed at IIT Guwahati
The findings of this research have been published in the prestigious journal, “Small”, published by Wiley-VCH.
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati have created novel materials and methodology that greatly improve the performance metrics of supercapacitors, the institute announced via a press release today, Friday, May 10.
According to a press release from the institute, this endeavour was led by Prof Uday Narayan Maiti from the Department of Physics at IIT Guwahati.
The team also includes a diverse set of scientists including Dr Pronoy Dutta, Sujit Kumar Deb, Amalika Patra, Golam Masud Karim, Dr Abhisek Majumder, and Prof Parameswar K Iyer from IIT Guwahati.
Dr Pradip Kumar from the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research-Advanced Materials and Processes Research Institute (AMPRI), Bhopal, and Dr Narayanan Padma, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai were also part of the team, informed the institute.
What are supercapacitators?
The press release states that supercapacitors are energy storage devices that store energy in the electrostatic field, unlike batteries. They can complete rapid charging and discharging cycles in seconds and are used to charge digital cameras and LED flashlights, power up defibrillators used for heart stabilisation, and stabilise power in laptops.
However, for widespread commercial use, supercapacitors must meet three performance metrics:
Gravimetric capacitance
Volumetric capacitance
Areal capacitance
Achieving high areal capacitance is a challenge, as it needs significant volumes of energy-storing active materials for the electrodes, resulting in a trade-off between volumetric and gravimetric capacitance.
To tackle this, Prof Maiti’s team developed a composite electrode made of MXene and bio waste-derived cellulose nanofibers (CNF).
MXenes are two-dimensional inorganic compounds composed of ultrathin layers of transition metal carbides, nitrides, or carbonitrides.
The researchers employed a unique electric field-guided approach to build these incredibly thin and tiny nanomaterials to construct the electrodes.
In contrast, nanofibers are filaments that are 1,00,000 times thinner than human hair. These nanofibers were deliberately placed to minimise the performance trade-off of a very high mass loading electrode.
Furthermore, the researchers combined MXene sheets to form porous hydrogel structures, which retain a large quantity of water.
They discovered that dehydrating these hydrogels resulted in the formation of closed localised holes. The addition of CNFs produced from garlic husk linked the pores and improved ion transport.
These newly calibrated supercapacitors can be applied in electric vehicles, renewable energy systems, and consumer electronics, says IIT Guwahati.
The findings of this research have been published in the prestigious journal, “Small”, published by Wiley-VCH.