R+D CSIC

High-power nanocarbon supercapacitors made with laser techniques

Researchers at the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC) have developed two innovative laser technologies to produce hybrid nanocarbon electrodes for high-power supercapacitors. These supercapacitors not only charge and discharge electrical energy quickly, but also store more energy than those normally used.

This technology has been developed by the Laser Processing group, led by CSIC scientist Angel Pérez, and is part of the technology catalogue promoted by the XRE4S "Energy for Society" network.

The team presented the new technologies at the TRANSFIERE 2022 Forum, a multi-sector professional forum that seeks to promote technology transfer and create new business opportunities, on February 17, in Malaga (Spain).

"Our goal is to develop two fast, versatile, environmentally sustainable, low-cost and easy-to-industrialise technologies for the fabrication of high-performing supercapacitors," says Ángel Pérez. "These technologies exploit the potential of laser radiation for heating up materials to high temperatures in a very short time, to transform them at the nanoscale and improve their capacity to store energy.”

Conventional supercapacitors are generally fast in the charge and discharge process, but the energy density is usually less than in batteries. Batteries, on the other hand, are slower to charge and discharge, but can have higher energy density. The technology developed by ICMAB scientists would allow having both advantages in one device, thus opening the possibility of many new applications.

For example, high storage capacity and high charging and discharging rate would enable devices in the automotive sector to harness and store the energy generated during breaking more efficiently than the current ones.

It would enable devices in the automotive sector to harness and store the energy generated during breaking more efficiently than the current devices

Another application would be in improving the management of smart grids, as it would be possible to avoid power peaks by quickly storing the electricity generated. The range of possibilities is wide in fields such as electronics, energy storage, power systems, electric vehicles and smart grids.

“The methodology”, concludes Alfonso del Rey, Technology Transfer Officer at ICMAB-CSIC, “is easy to implement in common industrial processes. We are currently looking for companies that manufacture supercapacitors or electrodes for capacitors that would like to increase the capacitance (electrical energy storage) of their products by adding an additional step to their production process. We are also open to establish a dialogue with investors who would like to set up a company to produce supercapacitors based on our technology.”

Contact:

Alfonso del Rey Pérez, PhD
Institut de Ciència de Materials
de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC)
Tel. +34 935 801 853 ext.436102
mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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