Supercapacitors are very important kind of electrochemical energy storage devices. It differs from those of batteries and exhibit high power density. The energy storage in supercapacitors is influenced by many parameters like nature of electrode material, current collector, electrolyte, etc. among which most crucial is the morphology of the electrode. This makes most of the research works are targeting in designing suitable and high performing electrode materials by adopting new routes of synthesis, modifying the regular methods so on. Herein we discuss the fundamentals of supercapacitors, their design and approaches to obtain high-performance electrode materials.
Part of the book: Mesoporous Materials
Supercapacitors are the integral part of electrochemical energy conversion and storage media. Energy storage mechanism is different in supercapacitors compared to batteries and results in exhibition of excellent power density. The supercapacitor performance is sensitive to material used as electrode, nature of electrolyte, etc. and the very significant is electrode surface nature. Based on the type of energy storage mechanism, supercapacitors are divided as electrochemical double-layer capacitors and pseudocapacitors. There is a practice to have both kind of these materials as electrode materials to achieve high electrochemical performance. Aerogels with inherent characteristics such as large pores, very high surface area, and superior mechanical stability make them superior candidates for electrode materials for high performance electrochemical supercapacitors. In this chapter, aerogels derived from different sources, their suitability and performance in view of electrochemical supercapacitors are discussed.
Part of the book: Colloids