Low-cost Supercapacitors for Household
Electrical Energy Storage and Harvesting
J. Chmiola, P. Gogotsi, R. Weerasooriya,* Y. Gogotsi
Drexel University, Department of Materials Science and
Engineering
3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
*Permanent address: J.R. Masterman High School,
Philadelphia, PA 19130, USA
Large-scale adoption of alternative energy
sources, and more efficient use and recovery of energy
will require the development of new, better and less
expensive devices for electrical energy storage [1]. These
devices must store energy generated by multiple sources
(e.g., a wind turbine and a solar panel), and deliver it to
various systems such as lights, emergency sensors, or
automatic door openers in every household.
Supercapacitors, as devices that store electrical energy
electrostatically, can be used in applications where
batteries cannot provide sufficient power or charge-
discharge rates [2]. They can also harvest/recover energy
from fast repetitive motion that is wasted nowadays,
decreasing the consumption of energy from the grid.
However, until now, their high cost, compared to batteries
with similar performance, has been limiting the use of
supercapacitors in many household and other cost-
sensitive applications [3]. The objective of this work was
to build supercapacitors for electrical energy storage and
harvesting by using inexpensive activated carbon and
other commonly available materials.
In this project, a high-school student and a high-
school teacher, guided by a graduate student, built a
supercapacitor that had performance comparable to
expensive commercial supercapacitors, showing the
feasibility of designing and manufacturing inexpensive
supercapacitors for every home.
(a) (b)
(c)
Figure 1. 15cm x 15cm electrodes with average
thickness of 656m constructed by Method 1 (a) and
15cm x 7.5cm electrodes with average thickness of
583m constructed by Method 2 (b). Both are shown
after testing, which produced some rusting of stainless
steel mesh. Electrodes assembled on stainless steel foil
are shown in (c).
The basic design of the prototype was a two electrode
prismatic cell. This design (a pouch cell) is used by
JEOL, Japan (http://www.jeol.com/), for solar battery
supercapacitors [4]. The prototype contains two
electrodes, on current collectors, pressed together but
separated by a porous membrane (Figure 2). Multiple
prismatic cells can be assembled to reach higher voltage
if necessary (110 V is required in many household
devices and for grid power stabilization).
Two methods were used for electrode
preparation. In Method 1, we mixed 5wt% PTFE with
95wt% carbon in ethanol (solvent). After that, it was
necessary to heat and stir the mixture until ethanol
evaporated and PTFE (binder) evenly distributed in
carbon. We worked the electrode until pliable and rolled
it into an electrolyte sheet. Finally, the electrode was cut
to size (Fig. 1a).
In Method 2, paint was prepared by mixing 5.5g
of activated carbon with 0.55g of PVDF (binder) and
50mL of DMF (solvent). These chemicals can easily be
ordered via online catalogues and were used for the paint,
because PTFE-based paint does not produce a smooth
and adhesive coating. The solution was heated, stirred
and decanted until it had become thick in consistency.
The cut electrodes (Fig. 1b) were painted onto current
collectors and dried in an oven at 80C.
A simple supercapacitor was constructed by
inserting two electrodes in a beaker or an empty milk
container containing a 1M NaCl solution in water as an
electrolyte, and connecting them to the potentiostat.
Capacitance values were calculated from the slope of the
discharge curve at constant current for the designed and
commercial capacitors at currents ranging from 10mA to
2A. Capacitance of up to 80F was achieved at currents
below 0.5A, but it decreased at 1A and above. On the
other hand, the capacitor electrodes produced by Method
2 showed a lower total capacitance (10-20 F), probably
due to a lower surface area available, but its capacitance
was as stable as that of commercial 22F and 50F
capacitors up to 2A.
Other methods of process simplification and
optimization, such as electrode preparation by mixing
ground activated carbon with a saturated NaCl solution
and selection of the best household tissue for separators,
are being explored. A capacitor of that kind can be
constructed using activated carbon, rock salt, metal foil
and old plastic containers at home and can provide back-
up power being charged from renewable energy sources
or harvesting energy lost nowadays. This will decrease
our dependence on oil and the electrical grid, helping in
the construction of smart and green housing.
Acknowledgements:
We acknowledge funding from the NSF Research
Experience for Teachers program. J.C. was supported by
a NSF graduate fellowship.
References:
1. B. E. Conway, Electrochemical Supercapacitors:
Scientific Fundamentals and Technological
Applications. 1st ed. Springer, 2004.
2. Basic Research Needs for Electrical Energy Storage.
Report of the Basic Energy Science Workshop in
Electrical Energy Storage. U.S. Department of
Energy, 2007.
3. J. Chmiola, Y. Gogotsi, Supercapacitors as Advanced
Energy Storage Devices, Nanotechnology Business
and Law, 4, 577-584 (2007).