Breakthrough in Energy Storage：New Super Capacitors

According to a new study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the two most common materials in human history, cement and carbon black (similar to very fine charcoal), may become the basic raw materials for a new low-cost energy storage system.

 

MIT researchers have found that these two materials can combine with water to make supercapacitors (substitutes for batteries), which can store electrical energy. It is said that this technology can maintain stability in the energy network despite fluctuations in renewable energy supply, thereby promoting the use of renewable energy such as solar, wind, and tidal power.
 

For example, researchers say that their supercapacitors can ultimately be integrated into the concrete foundation of a house, where they can store energy for a whole day at very little (or no) cost and still provide the structural strength required for the home. The researchers also envision building a concrete road that can give non-contact charging for electric vehicles driving on this road.

 

The latest research findings have been recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A capacitor is a very simple device in principle, consisting of two conductive plates immersed in the electrolyte and separated by a membrane. When a voltage is applied to a capacitor, positively charged ions from the electrolyte accumulate on the negatively charged plate, while positively charged plates accumulate negatively charged ions.

Due to the membrane between the plates preventing the migration of charged ions, this separation of charges creates an electric field between the plates, and the capacitor becomes charged. These two boards can maintain this pair of charges for a long period of time and then provide them very quickly when needed. A supercapacitor is a capacitor that can store extremely large amounts of charge.

The amount of electricity a capacitor can store depends on the total surface area of its conductive plate. The key to the new supercapacitor developed by the team lies in a method of producing cement-based materials, which have extremely high internal surface area due to their dense and interconnected conductive material network within their volume.

Specifically, researchers achieved this goal by placing highly conductive carbon black, cement powder, and water into a concrete mixture and allowing it to solidify. When water reacts with cement, it naturally forms a branching network in the structure, and carbon migrates into these spaces, forming a linear structure in the hardened cement.

 

These structures have a forked structure, with larger branches giving rise to smaller branches, and so on, ultimately forming a very large surface area within a relatively small volume range.

Then immerse this material in a standard electrolyte material, such as potassium chloride (a salt), which provides charged particles that accumulate on the carbon structure. Researchers have found that two electrodes made of this material are separated by a thin space or insulation layer, forming a very powerful supercapacitor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Researchers point out that cement and carbon black are two materials with a history of at least two thousand years. "When you combine them in a specific way, you get a conductive nanocomposite material, which is when things become truly interesting. Moreover, the required carbon content is very small, accounting for only 3% of the mixture volume, which can form a permeable carbon network.

Researchers say that supercapacitors made of this material have great potential in helping the world transition to renewable energy. The main sources of nonemission energy, such as wind energy, solar energy, and tidal energy, all generate their output at variable times, which are often inconsistent with the peak of electricity usage. Therefore, methods of storing electricity are essential.

 

The demand for large-scale energy storage systems is very high, and existing batteries are too expensive and mainly rely on materials such as lithium. The supply of lithium is limited, so there is an urgent need for cheaper alternatives. This is where our technology is very promising because cement is everywhere, "they said.

The research team calculated that a 45 cubic meter-sized nano carbon black doped concrete (equivalent to a cube with a diameter of approximately 3.5 meters) would have sufficient capacity to store approximately 10-kilowatt hours of energy, which is considered the average daily electricity consumption of a household. Due to the ability of concrete to maintain its strength, houses built on this material can store the energy generated by solar panels or windmills for a day and be used when needed. Moreover, the charging and discharging speed of supercapacitors is much faster than that of batteries.

Researchers also say that the initial use of this technology may be in isolated homes, buildings, or shelters far from the power grid, which may be powered by solar panels connected to cement supercapacitors.

They said that the system is very scalable because the energy storage capacity is a direct function of the electrode volume. You can turn a 1mm thick electrode into a 1m thick electrode, and by doing so, you can basically expand your energy storage capacity, from lighting up an LED for a few seconds to supplying power to the entire house.

 

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