Capacitor, or also known as “condenser” is a passive electronic component. It consists of a pair of conductors and mostly separates by a dielectric. If a voltage potential difference exists between the conductors, an electric field is detecting by dielectric. The field stores energy and produces a mechanical force between the plates.

A research team, which is led by George Gruner at the University of California, Los Angeles, has discovered a printed supercapacitor for the very first time! By the way, the supercapacitors claimed to store more than thousands of times as much energy as standard ones.

According to Gruner, for developing the printed supercapacitor, they need to spray carbon nanotubes onto two plastic films, which are acting as both the device’s electrodes and charge collectors. Then, the team sandwiched a gel electrolyte (It made by mixing a water-soluble synthetic polymer with phosphoric acid and water) between the two films!

Gruner described that the supercapacitor has a power density of 70 kilowatts per kilogram. This feature allows rapid charging and discharging become easily! The energy density is 9 watt hours per kilogram, which means one kilogram is able to hold up to 32 kilojoules. Honestly, both figures are much better than standard commercial devices.

Meanwhile, the team is also researching an “experimental batteries”. Gruner said these types of new batteries have the energy storage of normal batteries, but it can charge and release energy 100 times than lithium ion batteries did!

It looks like the lithium ion batteries would be eliminated very soon, after the new battery type being introduced into the market. [newscientist]

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