Posted on 04/07/2025 7:13:49 PM PDT by Red Badger
The Skoltech team tested six plasma compositions on the capacitance of carbon nanowalls.
Plasma treatment introduced foreign atoms into supercapacitor electrodes to enhance performance. Skoltech
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Scientists at Russia’s Skoltech have achieved a refined understanding of how plasma treatment can significantly improve the capacitance of supercapacitors.
Their latest findings reveal that a specific mixture of nitrogen and argon plasma can double the areal capacitance of carbon nanowall electrodes.
This could lead to the development of supercapacitors with greater energy storage capabilities and broader applications.
“These are energy storage devices that complement batteries in electric cars, trains, port cranes, and elsewhere,” said the researchers in a press release.
The research focused on the effect of introducing foreign atoms into the carbon material of supercapacitor electrodes through plasma treatment.
Improving the performance of supercapacitors
Supercapacitors are increasingly recognized as vital energy storage devices that work alongside batteries in a variety of applications, from electric vehicles and trains to port cranes and uninterruptible power supplies.
They excel at delivering and harvesting energy rapidly, which makes them ideal for situations requiring quick bursts of power, such as vehicle acceleration and regenerative braking.
Furthermore, supercapacitors boast advantages like wider operating temperature ranges, longer lifespans, and enhanced safety compared to traditional batteries.
“Our team is investigating ways to improve the performance of devices known as supercapacitors by tinkering with the carbon-based material used in their electrodes,” said Assistant Professor Stanislav Evlashin, the principal investigator of the study.
“Basically, there are two ways to increase the amount of energy a supercapacitor stores. Either you enhance the effective surface area of the electrodes by intricate surface design or you introduce foreign atoms into the carbon material of the electrodes.”
Investigating carbon-based electrode performance
The Skoltech team tested the impact of plasma with six different chemical compositions on the capacitance of carbon nanowalls, a material commonly used in supercapacitor electrodes.
Notably, only the plasma composed of a nitrogen and argon mixture resulted in a substantial improvement and doubled the areal capacitance of the material.
“We found that what happens first is that the amorphous carbon remaining after the growth of carbon nanowall structures is cleared away,” explained Evlashin.
“This is followed by the formation of new defects and the incorporation of heteroatoms into the carbon material structure. Amorphous carbon, along with the heteroatoms of nitrogen, contributes to the occurrence of pseudocapacitance.”
Supercapacitors complement batteries in diverse applications Advances in supercapacitor technology hold significant implications for various sectors. In electric and hybrid vehicles, supercapacitors can improve startup and stopping efficiency, as well as enhance power steering capabilities.
“Working in conjunction with gasoline engines, supercapacitors promise faster charging for vehicle batteries. Electric vehicles in general and trains in particular could benefit from supercapacitors capturing the energy released in braking to boost overall efficiency,” added the press release.
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Furthermore, the potential applications extend to the fields of Internet of Things sensors, communication devices, wearable medical devices, and portable electronics.
The ongoing research into electrode modifications is crucial for expanding the toolkit for enhancing supercapacitor performance.
“While this is in no way a record for such carbon-based electrode modifications, the results of the study shed light on the electrochemistry involved,” concluded the press release.
Caps are awesome, including that rooskie Ovechkin skater guy.
I can’t wait until one of these “supercapacitors” goes haywire under someone’s butt.
It’s a small step.
A capacitor can discharge all it’s energy rather quickly if it gets shorted........................
A super capacitor holding a couple of kilowatt hours would make a decent bomb.
The energy density of super capacitors is no any where near that of batteries. Super caps don’t have a very large market. This article is over playing them.
85-135 wh/kg is above nickel metal hydride and rights under lithium iron phosphate cells. This is with the exact kind of electrodes this process is said to double the energy density. That would put them firmly in the NMC cell range but with hundreds of thousands of cycles and temperature ranges from -20 to plus 100C.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/nl102661q
A free copy is available here under his ref pdf.
For automotive applications you don’t need a lot of ultra caps to double or triple fuel economy. To accelerate a typical sedan from zero to 60 mph takes about 600 watt hours and due to physics to slow the same mass down also takes 600 wh of braking energy. This means with a ultra cap of only 1000 watt hours or 1 kWh you can capture all the energy needed via regen braking to stop a car and then accelerate it back up to speed minus ten percent or so for friction and magnetic losses. This is precisely why a Toyota Corolla hhybrid gets 65 mpg in grid lock traffic and the ICE version returns 25 or less. I personally have had long term rentals of each and in LA or Houston grid lock the hybrid was 50-60 mpg over ten to 15 mile trips typical of urban drives in either city.
Having ultra caps with lithium ion level energy density would revolutionize the hybrid industry and also every electric metro system. Ever wonder why the NYC subways are 110+F in the stations in the summer time? It’s because the trains use friction brakes to come to a stop at each station and all that energy is released as heat you guessed it right into the air in the stations and tunnels. Having ultra caps on the trains to capture the 600V DC from the motors would drastically lower the heat loads in the tunnels and stations. Right now the trains cannot push current back to the DC third rail as the rectifiers in the modern system and the rotary converters still in use from the early 1900s n some parts of the system are not bidirectional every joule is dissipated as heat,ozone and brake dust its one of the characteristic smells that makes the NYC subways smell like subway there is no other smell like it its singular you have smelled it or you have not.
Yes, there is no way I would buy an EV, but I would buy the right plug in hybrid for some of those reasons. Haven’t found one I like, though.
I wish we could have the BYD Qin L DM-i , they sell that 5 passenger full sized sedan for $15,000 USD.
It has the BYD blade pack on it that cannot burn. This is the only lithium technology that can and that have repeatedly demonstrated to take the steel spike test. As in they fully charge a pack then ram a steel spike all the way through it shorting and piercing its protective layers. It doesn’t burn or vent flammable gasses it just sits there and heats up but under 400F below the auto ignition temp of nearly every liquid fuel, paper and fabrics.
That pack is sized to make that car go 70-80 miles US that covers 99% of all trips in the USA in a daily basis with fully 96% being under 30 miles. When that pack is down to 10% the engine takes over its one of the most efficient ICE ever put in production. It has been tested with a zero capacity pack in a major Chinese city during a half day of traffic and driving they covered well over 200km and averaged 2.2L/100km that’s equal to 108 mpg which is not surprising given I have personally driven a 2023 Prius in Houston over a 20 mile trips and got 95mpg door to door because it was grid lock and hybrids are gangbusters in grid lock the regen is brilliant.
I would buy a BYD Qin L DM-i tomorrow for double the $15,000 they sell for in China that’s a 100% tariff BRING IT it would still be worth every penny to have a plug in 5 passenger sedan that has a 1300 mile range and returns 100 mpg in the city , I could charge it off my solar panels for all trips under 70 miles which is most of my driving other than to Houston, New Orleans and Midland every so often.
I don’t golf, and don’t live live near a golf course.
I have a couple of 20 yr. old turbo diesel cars and about 30 gal. of now very aged cans of Diesel.
It’s about 6-12 months of travel left in the fuel reserve.
I need an overgrown golf cart because?
“...the electrification of the Milwaukee Road was a significant investment, with the mountainous terrain and the possibility of hydroelectric power being key factors in the decision to electrify the new line. The section from Harlowton, Montana, to Avery, Idaho, was fully turned over to electric operation in late 1916.”
Regenerative braking, back in the day, without batteries....
That steel spike test is impressive!
I’m not sure who you get to swing the hammer on that, *I* sure wouldn’t do it!
😉
I want something that’s plug in hybrid, with a turbo 4 with some good output in a mid sized SUV.
“This article is over playing them.”
The article says they play a part assisting ICE and batteries.
That is not over playing.
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