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  • Thu. Nov 14th, 2024

Light-powered Supercapacitors

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A group of researchers from India and South Korea have developed a portable supercapacitor that can be charged using light.

Supercapacitor

  • Supercapacitors are a type of an electrochemical energy storage systems which have great power density and specific capacitance.
  • Supercapacitor differs from ultracapacitor as they are built from different materials and structured in slightly different ways, so they store different amounts of energy.
  • A supercapacitor device consists of an electrode, electrolyte and a current collector.
  • A capacitor stores energy by means of a static charge as opposed to an electrochemical reaction.
  • Applying a voltage differential on the positive and negative plates charges the capacitor.
  • They present lower energy densities (they store less energy per unit mass) than batteries.
  • Applications – Portable and wearable devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops and smartwatches.

Advantages of Supercapacitors

  • Quick charging and discharging
  • Exhibit long life since they are not subject to chemical degradation as in conventional batteries
  • Greater power density (can release energy more quickly)
  • Smaller in size
  • Provides back-up power during power outages in space applications
  • Have little or no internal resistance (they store and release energy without using much energy)
  • Work at very close to 100% efficiency (97–98% is typical)

Light-powered Supercapacitors

  • The researchers developed a design involving a stainless steel electrode with a quartz transparent window in order to harvest visible light.
  • A specially prepared ‘down-conversion’ phosphor is introduced before the quartz window to facilitate light-induced charging.
  • Devices that are powered by such supercapacitors can be charged by simply keeping them under light.

light-powered supercapacitors

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