Researchers from Georgia Tech have developed a supercapacitor material made out of a hybrid silica sol-gel that provides electrical energy storage capacity that rivals some batteries.

They say that if this supercapacitor is scaled up from laboratory samples, it could be used to make devices that would exceed traditional high-capacity The supercapacitor is also flexible, meaning it can be rolled and re-rolled several times while maintaining its high energy density. Source: Georgia Techcapacitors for applications in areas where quick-discharge is needed, such as electromagnetic propulsion, electric vehicles and defibrillators.

The bilayer dielectric material is made up of a nanoscale self-assembled monolayer material formed between a sol-gel film and aluminized mylar film electrodes. That bilayer structure blocks the injection of electrons into the sol-gel material, providing low leakage current, high breakdown strength and high energy extraction efficiency, the researchers say.

The supercapacitor is also flexible, meaning it can be rolled and re-rolled several times while maintaining its high energy density.

The researchers demonstrated maximum extractable energy densities up to 40 joules per cubic centimeter, which they say is an energy extraction efficiency of 72% at a field strength of 830 volts per micron and a power density of 520 watts per cubic centimeter.

The research was published in the journal Advanced Energy Materials.

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