I2I Phase 1: Optimization of a flexible hybrid electrochemical energy storage system for wearable devices

电化学储能装置，如电池和超级电容器，比以往任何时候都需要满足当前和未来能源格局的需求。虽然电池可以储存相对大量的能量，但能量的传输速度相当慢。相比之下，超级电容器具有快速的能量传输能力，但只能存储少量的能量。因此，创造电池-超级电容器的混合动力是很有希望的，它结合了这两个概念的优点。我们小组最近发明了一种新型的电池-超级电容器混合材料，它制造简单，由丰富的，环保的和相对经济有效的材料组成。它还具有快速充电能力，非常薄，机械灵活。因此，它非常适合为可穿戴电子产品和智能纺织品供电。在目前的项目中，我们优化了混合动力车的设计，以进一步提高其能量含量，同时增加能量存储的持续时间。我们还开发了一个更大的原型，可用于为锂离子电池供电的可穿戴设备充电，如智能手表或健身追踪器，以提高技术水平，并展示我们发明的商业化潜力。

Electrochemical energy storage devices such as batteries and supercapacitors are required more than ever to fulfill the demand of the present and the future energy landscape. While batteries can store a relatively large amount of energy, the transfer rate of energy is rather slow. In contrast, supercapacitors have fast energy transfer abilities but store only a low amount of energy. Hence, it is desirable to create battery-supercapacitor hybrids which combine the advantages of both concepts. Our group recently invented a novel battery-supercapacitor hybrid which is simple to manufacture and consists of abundant, environmentally-benign and relatively cost effective materials. It also has fast charging abilities and is very thin and mechanically flexible. It is therefore very suitable to power wearable electronics and smart textiles. In the current project, we optimize the design of the hybrid to further improve its energy content while at the same increasing the duration the energy can be stored. We also develop a larger prototype that can be used to charge a lithium-ion battery powered wearable device such as a smartwatch or fitness tracker to increase the technology level and to demonstrate the potential for commercialisation of our invention.