Imagine being able to charge your phone or laptop in seconds.
A new study by the University of Waterloo shows that this will soon become a reality.
Michael Pope, assistant professor of chemical engineering, said they have found ways to significantly improve the energy storage device for super capacitors.
When they test their new super capacitor, they have twice the storage capacity of the commercial super capacitor.
"This is by far one of the highest levels reported in the research literature.
We hope this will bring us closer to some of the more interesting apps . "
He said the capacitors are made of graphene sheets, which are used as conductors and need to be stacked like paper sheets.
"I told my students that if you have a penny heavy graphene of this material, it can cover the entire football field," Pope said . ".
He explained how you can pile up things that are important in size.
They use a liquid salt as a spacer to separate the sheets and provide a place for energy storage.
They also spread the salt evenly with detergent.
The Pope said: "It is not easy to do, but they have achieved very good results as he said.
"We are able to control more of the surface area that we actually coat with salt.
The more surface area we touch, the more energy we store . "
It's a complicated process, and Pope says it's challenging to understand what's going on with their system because they put everything together.
They want to do more testing and try different salts and methods to make graphene more conductive.
The super capacitor has been used in a limited range, Pope said.
"The main application at present is the regeneration fracture of hybrid and electric vehicles.
When you take a break, they use the super capacitor to capture the energy . . . . . . Sometimes they use it on cars, but mostly on high places.
High-speed rail in Europe and Asia . "
The Pope said they were also using them instead of lead.
Acid Battery in truck starter.
"Lead is toxic, so they try to stay away from it," he said . ".
According to the Pope, the performance of the super capacitors is superior to that of the batteries, because they are more efficient in charging and discharging and last longer.
"If you use a super capacitor, you don't have to replace the car battery," Pope said . ".
We hope to replace the current battery technology.
He described an electric bus in China, which runs entirely on a super capacitor, but because it can only travel a few miles at a time, it needs to be charged at each station.
The Pope said: "We are trying to improve how much energy we can store so that we can start thinking about . . . . . . Mobile phones and electric cars . ".
Under current technology, the phone can only be used for an hour or two, but with a super capacitor, it can be charged in 5 to 10 seconds, he said.
"It's exciting to think about how we use fast charging to improve our efficiency or convenience in life," said Pope . ".
Imagine being able to charge your phone or laptop in seconds.
A new study by the University of Waterloo shows that this will soon become a reality.
Michael Pope, assistant professor of chemical engineering, said they have found ways to significantly improve the energy storage device for super capacitors.
When they test their new super capacitor, they have twice the storage capacity of the commercial super capacitor.
"This is by far one of the highest levels reported in the research literature.
We hope this will bring us closer to some of the more interesting apps . "
He said the capacitors are made of graphene sheets, which are used as conductors and need to be stacked like paper sheets.
"I told my students that if you have a penny heavy graphene of this material, it can cover the entire football field," Pope said . ".
He explained how you can pile up things that are important in size.
They use a liquid salt as a spacer to separate the sheets and provide a place for energy storage.
They also spread the salt evenly with detergent.
The Pope said: "It is not easy to do, but they have achieved very good results as he said.
"We are able to control more of the surface area that we actually coat with salt.
The more surface area we touch, the more energy we store . "
It's a complicated process, and Pope says it's challenging to understand what's going on with their system because they put everything together.
They want to do more testing and try different salts and methods to make graphene more conductive.
The super capacitor has been used in a limited range, Pope said.
"The main application at present is the regeneration fracture of hybrid and electric vehicles.
When you take a break, they use the super capacitor to capture the energy . . . . . . Sometimes they use it on cars, but mostly on high places.
High-speed rail in Europe and Asia . "
The Pope said they were also using them instead of lead.
Acid Battery in truck starter.
"Lead is toxic, so they try to stay away from it," he said . ".
According to the Pope, the performance of the super capacitors is superior to that of the batteries, because they are more efficient in charging and discharging and last longer.
"If you use a super capacitor, you don't have to replace the car battery," Pope said . ".
We hope to replace the current battery technology.
He described an electric bus in China, which runs entirely on a super capacitor, but because it can only travel a few miles at a time, it needs to be charged at each station.
The Pope said: "We are trying to improve how much energy we can store so that we can start thinking about . . . . . . Mobile phones and electric cars . ".
Under current technology, the phone can only be used for an hour or two, but with a super capacitor, it can be charged in 5 to 10 seconds, he said.
"It's exciting to think about how we use fast charging to improve our efficiency or convenience in life," said Pope . ".
Imagine being able to charge your phone or laptop in seconds.
A new study by the University of Waterloo shows that this will soon become a reality.
Michael Pope, assistant professor of chemical engineering, said they have found ways to significantly improve the energy storage device for super capacitors.
When they test their new super capacitor, they have twice the storage capacity of the commercial super capacitor.
"This is by far one of the highest levels reported in the research literature.
We hope this will bring us closer to some of the more interesting apps . "
He said the capacitors are made of graphene sheets, which are used as conductors and need to be stacked like paper sheets.
"I told my students that if you have a penny heavy graphene of this material, it can cover the entire football field," Pope said . ".
He explained how you can pile up things that are important in size.
They use a liquid salt as a spacer to separate the sheets and provide a place for energy storage.
They also spread the salt evenly with detergent.
The Pope said: "It is not easy to do, but they have achieved very good results as he said.
"We are able to control more of the surface area that we actually coat with salt.
The more surface area we touch, the more energy we store . "
It's a complicated process, and Pope says it's challenging to understand what's going on with their system because they put everything together.
They want to do more testing and try different salts and methods to make graphene more conductive.
The super capacitor has been used in a limited range, Pope said.
"The main application at present is the regeneration fracture of hybrid and electric vehicles.
When you take a break, they use the super capacitor to capture the energy . . . . . . Sometimes they use it on cars, but mostly on high places.
High-speed rail in Europe and Asia . "
The Pope said they were also using them instead of lead.
Acid Battery in truck starter.
"Lead is toxic, so they try to stay away from it," he said . ".
According to the Pope, the performance of the super capacitors is superior to that of the batteries, because they are more efficient in charging and discharging and last longer.
"If you use a super capacitor, you don't have to replace the car battery," Pope said . ".
We hope to replace the current battery technology.
He described an electric bus in China, which runs entirely on a super capacitor, but because it can only travel a few miles at a time, it needs to be charged at each station.
The Pope said: "We are trying to improve how much energy we can store so that we can start thinking about . . . . . . Mobile phones and electric cars . ".
Under current technology, the phone can only be used for an hour or two, but with a super capacitor, it can be charged in 5 to 10 seconds, he said.
"It's exciting to think about how we use fast charging to improve our efficiency or convenience in life," said Pope . ".