Nanodiamond could Power Devices for Next-gen Energy Storage, says study

Published on : Dec 05, 2019

As the use of battery-operated devices and appliances continues to rise, the need for safe, high-performing power sources becomes essential. To serve this, a new power-storage device called supercapacitor is now considered feasible. And sometimes considered better too. Supercapacitor - is considered a better alternative to conventionally used energy-storage devices.

Supercapacitors differ in terms of function also. Supercapacitors charge and discharge more rapidly than conventional batteries. And this property is exhibited for long duration. This makes supercapacitors suitable for a host of applications, including wearable electronic devices, regenerative braking in vehicles, and so on.

According to scientists, if a high-performance supercapacitor is successfully developed, it can be integrated into wearable devices and other devices. Such development will account for a boom in the Internet of Things.

Limitations of Current Supercapacitors led Research for New Electrode Materials

However, despite several positives, supercapacitors, the ones currently used, have drawbacks that is limiting their use. Low energy density – one major issue of supercapacitors is insufficient energy storage per unit area.

To address this, scientists tried using organic solvents as electrolytes as conducting medium. This is to raise the generated voltage. On the downside, organic solvents are expensive and display low conductivity. Aqueous electrolyte could serve the purpose better – scientists opined.

This led to the research for development of supercapacitor components that would be effectual with aqueous electrolyte.

Continuing with the research, the team of scientists explored the possibility to use nanodiamond - as electrode for supercapacitors.

The choice of material was based on the information that boron-doped diamonds feature a wide potential window. This feature of nanodiamond enables an electrical device that requires high storage to remain stable over time.

With this knowledge, if conductive diamond is employed as an electrode material, scientists thought water-based supercapacitors that could produce a large voltage to be possibility.