SUPERCAPACITORS:THE FUTURE OF ENERGY?

Modern society is increasingly hungry for power. Whether it be to ensure our mobile communications devices are available for use, or simply to provide all the comforts and labour-saving devices in our homes and work spaces. However, continuous generation of energy is no longer sustainable and we must seek ways to recover or recuperate energy for reuse, if we are to continue the spread of this demand.

Recent innovations in recuperative energy are becoming commonplace; from hybrid vehicles to power tools and harnessing natural energy sources of wind, wave and sun. The storage of energy is more problematic and in particular, short term accumulation for immediate and rapid reuse. Hence the role of supercapacitors is developing in meeting this challenge.

A supercapacitor uses a composite of different carbon materials, including an extremely high surface area, high purity activated carbon to store electrolyte within its porosity. This electrolyte can rapidly be charged with electrons as the spent energy is recovered, and hold it with minimal leakage and a capacity far in excess of its own mass. When discharge of the stored energy is required, activated carbon allows this to be achieved rapidly and without significant loss of energy, in turn restoring optimal capacity to the supercapacitor cell. This means the cell can be charged and discharged repeatedly for thousands of cycles without loss of performance.

Jacobi Carbons has completed construction of the world’s most modern and advanced manufacturing facility for high purity activated carbons. Our SuperCap^TM EL-Series materials offer both standard and extended capacity products to the market. Meanwhile our research continues to develop the next generation of activated carbons, with reduced porosity and greater capacity for use in smaller ultra-capacitor systems to further extend energy storage capabilities.

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