Improving supercapacitor charge storage

超级电容器是一种能量存储系统，类似于电池，但在需要短时间、高强度的电源爆发时使用，例如安全气囊展开或相机闪光灯。我提议的研究计划利用我在电化学和超级电容器方面的专业知识来增加超级电容器储存的电荷量，并增加超级电容器储存电荷的时间。使用环保的超级电容器材料，我们将对超级电容器如何失去电荷(即自放电)有基本的了解。我们的长期研究目标将：(I)使超级电容器能够保持更长的充电时间；以及(Ii)在不牺牲超级电容器的快速响应的情况下，实现保持更多电荷的创新电极设计。这一计划的成功将减少对设备频繁充电的需求，减少浪费的能源，从而提高消费设备中的超级电容器性能。 我的研究计划的主题1建立了对自放电的基本理解，自放电是导致超级电容器自发失去电荷的过程的集合。目前，关于自我放电是如何发生以及为什么发生的知之甚少。此外，几乎没有诊断方法来确定导致自放电的化学或物理过程。利用我的超级电容器专业知识，我的研究小组将制定这些必要的诊断方法，同时建立在我们对自放电原因的发现基础上，并生产出自放电较少的电极材料。 我的计划的主题2开发了新的电极设计，以保持当前超级电容器的高功率能力，同时解决其低能量的问题。我的团队解决这个问题的方法的新颖性来自于只在电极的选定部分沉积高能材料，因为在高功率脉冲期间，只使用了电极的一部分。通过战略性地将高能材料放置在高功率碳上，我的团队的创新电极设计将保持这两种材料的优势，以满足消费设备的能源和电力需求。 在我的项目中接受培训的人员非常适合学术界和各种行业的职位。在我的项目中，人员发展了独特的和高度重视的电化学技能，包括对超级电容器和储能材料的深入和广泛的知识。 通过采用自放电基础研究和应用研究的双重方法(主题1)，以及通过开发同时显示高功率和能量的新型材料(主题2)，我的研究将对超级电容器的基础电化学产生有意义的见解，提高它们的性能并扩大它们的应用，这对加拿大来说是一个好处，因为我们是超级电容器所用材料的世界前十大生产国。

Supercapacitors are energy storage systems that are similar to batteries but are used when short high-intensity bursts of power are required, e.g. airbag deployment or camera flashes. My proposed research program capitalizes on my expertise in electrochemistry and supercapacitors to increase the amount of charge stored by a supercapacitor and increase the time the supercapacitor can store charge. Using environmentally-friendly supercapacitor materials we will generate fundamental understanding of how supercapacitors lose charge (i.e. self-discharge). Our long-term research goals will: (i) enable supercapacitors to hold charge for longer times; and (ii) result in an innovative electrode design which holds more charge, without sacrificing the supercapacitor’s rapid response. Success in this program will lessen the need for frequent device recharging and reduce wasted energy, thereby enhancing supercapacitor performance in consumer devices. Theme 1 of my research program establishes fundamental understanding of self-discharge, a collection of processes which cause supercapacitors to spontaneously lose their charge. Currently, there is little knowledge about how and why self-discharge occurs. Furthermore, there are few diagnostics to identify the chemical or physical process causing self-discharge. Using my supercapacitor expertise, my research group will formulate these necessary diagnostics, while building upon our discoveries into the causes of self-discharge and producing electrode materials which exhibit less self-discharge. Theme 2 of my program develops new electrode designs to maintain the high power capabilities of current supercapacitors while addressing the problem of their low energy. The novelty in my group’s approach to this problem comes from depositing high energy materials on only selected portions of the electrode, since during intense power bursts only part of the electrode is actually used. By strategically positioning high energy material on high power carbon my group’s innovative electrode designs will maintain the benefits of both materials in order to meet the energy and power requirements of consumer devices. Personnel trained in my program are well qualified for academia and a wide range of industrial positions. In my program personnel develop unique and highly valued skills in electrochemistry, including an intensive and extensive knowledge of supercapacitors and energy storage materials. By using a dual approach of fundamental and applied research into self-discharge (Theme 1), and by developing novel materials exhibiting high power and energy simultaneously (Theme 2), my research will result in meaningful insights into the fundamental electrochemistry of supercapacitors, enhance their performance and broaden their use in applications, a benefit to Canada as we are a top 10 world producer of many the materials used in supercapacitors.