NightStalker ....One the articles I read said the fisker one minute charge is still 4 years away thats a lifetime considering the high tech pace that the technology in this field is moving...The patended mirco supercapacitor that's soon to list on ASX ionic industries is worth a look the parameters are very cutting edge
Graphene Micro Planar Super-Capacitors For Energy Storage
While there is currently an enormous effort being poured into next generation chemical battery technology, including various forms of lithium ion batteries, supercapacitors represent the next wave of energy storage technology, promising vastly superior performance. Ionic’s technology represents a solution to the problems that have inhibited the widespread adoption of supercapacitors as energy storage devices.
Three packs of modern supercapacitors (in the blue package), consisting of six D-size cells, provide and store the same amount of electrical energy as the smaller pack of six AA-size TLI 1550 Li-ion rechargeable batteries. By contrast, graphene micro planar supercapacitors with the same electrical energy are minute in size compared with the AA-size TLI 1550 Li-ion rechargeable
Batteries and capacitors seem similar as they both store and release electrical energy. However, there are crucial differences between them that impact their potential applications, due to their functional differences.
The potential energy in a capacitor is stored in an electric field, where a battery stores its potential energy in a chemical form.
The technology used in chemical storage batteries currently yields greater energy densities (capable of storing more energy per weight) than capacitors.
However, a battery typically discharges its energy more slowly than a capacitor because there is a lag associated with the chemical reaction necessary to transfer the chemical energy into electrical energy.
A capacitor on the other hand stores the electrical energy directly on the plates so the discharging rate for capacitors is directly related to the conduction capabilities of the capacitors plates.
A capacitor can discharge and charge faster than a battery because of this energy storage method.
The primary uses for supercapacitors to date have been in combination with batteries or for specialised applications where the specific characteristics of supercapacitors presented an advantage over batteries. The applications include:
Transport in buses, light rail and cars used alongside batteries or traditional petrol / diesel engines
Energy harvesting and grid electricity applications where they are used to buffer electricity supply in conjunction with other energy storage systems
Electronics applications with fluctuating loads where supercapacitors are used to stabilise the power supply from batteries
So, to date, while supercapacitors offer many advantages, their low energy per weight has inhibited widespread application as an energy storage device.
Ionic’s graphene micro planar supercapacitors can deliver all the benefits of supercapacitors in a much smaller, lighter device.
In 2015, the Ionic / Monash research team published ground-breaking research titled Miniaturized Supercapacitors: Focused Ion Beam Reduced GO Supercapacitors with Enhanced Performance Metrics [1] in volume 5 of the Journal of Advanced Energy Materials (cover shown in graphic).
That research demonstrated how micro-supercapacitor architectures with planar geometry provide several advantages, such as the ability to control and reduce the distances ions travel between two electrodes, easy integration to microdevices and the potential of being extended into 3 dimensions without compromising the interelectrode distances.
Focused ion beam (FIB) technology was used to directly write miniaturized planar electrode systems of reduced GO (FIB-rGO) on films of GO. Using optimized ion beam irradiation, the research team created interdigitated FIB-rGO electrode designs with 40 μm long and 3.5 μm wide fingers with ultra-small interelectrode spacing of 1 μm.
Interdigitated electrode printed at a micro scale
An FIB being used to “print” planar electrodes on the GO film.
Comparative analysis against a variety of competing supercapacitor devices shows excellent energy density of Ionic’s graphene planar micro supercapacitors.
These devices demonstrated a large capacitance (102 mF/cm²), ultra-small time response (0.03 ms), low equivalent series resistance (0.35 mΩ/cm2), and retain 95% of the capacitance after 1000 cycles at an ultrahigh current density of 45 mA/cm². (See table below for comparison figures).
These performance metrics showed extraordinary improvements in a number of measures of supercapacitor performance compared to existing reports. The improvements were due to the miniaturized electrode dimensions and minimal damage to the graphene sheets.
These results were the first step toward largescale fabrication of arrayed, planar, high-performance micro-supercapacitors with a small environmental footprint.
While some competing micro-supercapacitors can provide high power densities, comparisons (see table below) demonstrate that Ionic’s miniaturised devices provide enhanced energy density while maintaining high power density.
This is the figurative holy grail in supercapacitor research.
The table below shows comparable performance against the best competing supercapacitors as presented in independent, peer-reviewed research from the University of California Los Angeles [2].
We now have a process for economically mass-producing our micro supercapacitors and our Directors and key personnel have taken direct stakes in the company. Patent Update
Since we published the astounding results on our graphene micro planar supercapacitors 2 years ago, we have been working toward developing a device that not only demonstrates similar performance but can be produced at scale to deliver an economically viable device… After all, if we can’t make them economically, we’ll never make enough to make a difference…
The last 2 years of work culminated last week in our filing of a new patent titled: Capacitive energy storage device and method of producing same (Australian Provisional Patent Application 2017903619). The new patent covers:
The design of our new energy storage device, being a planar micro supercapacitor printed on a porous film;
Our technique of stacking multiple layers of planar supercapacitors to create a 3-D device that has ground-breaking energy and power density characteristics; and, most importantly,
Our method for printing these devices so that they can be mass produced at low cost.
The critical element in this new technology is our ability to print the supercapacitors in the 1000s per minute, rather than individually creating each device with an expensive, direct-write approaches using lasers or ion beams. The technology builds on our existing patent relating to graphene oxide membranes and it means we can create these devices as easily as factories today produce food packaging and labels using gravure printers.
The team is now working on assembling the prototype device which is scheduled for completion in the next 6 weeks before we go into trials for a period of several months. The expected end result is a supercapacitor energy storage device comprised of printed graphene micro planar supercapacitors that can be produced economically at scale.
We are extremely excited about this development as it brings us well within sight of a commercial product. The next steps involve identifying appropriate, world leading partners with whom we can introduce this technology into products such as medical devices, wearable technologies, IoT devices or remote sensing applications.
This addition to our suite of patents further strengthens Ionic’s IP position that already includes valuable patents on graphene oxide membranes, environmentally friendly graphene production and our original graphene micro supercapacitors. Directors Interests
As we approach the end of our current round of capital raising, we think it’s appropriate to inform you about the interests of our Directors in the company. Ionic Directors Peter Armitage, Merlin Allan, Simon Savage and to its lead researcher Associate Professor Mainak Majumder have directly invested over $220,000, which well exceeds their respective entitlements under the recent capital raising initiatives. Gravure printed supercapacitors
This image, directly from the patent applications, is a sheet of our supercapacitor devices, printed using industrial scale, gravure printing methods. The larger squares are the contacts that connect to whatever device is being powered. The micro supercapacitors are the much smaller elements, in arrays of up to 100 devices.
If you’d like any further information on our latest research, capital raising or Directors, please reach out by responding to this email.
worth keeping an eye on this one
Just saying regards alanpro
LYC Price at posting:
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