Electric cars add new technology, scientists invented organic super capacitors

Researchers are replacing fossil fuels by looking for some unusual resources. At the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany, a team of female scientists may do this: Professor Andrea Cruz and other scientists are building particularly efficient energy storage systems from biogas power generation. Feces remain. These supercapacitors can play a vital role in future electric vehicles.

Professor Cruise and her colleagues Catalina Rodriguez and Viola Hoffmann use biomass and other residues from fermentation as starting materials, which are rich in carbon and nitrogen, but also rich in lignin (a type of wood found in woody tissue). Biopolymer). With this, researchers can synthesize graphite-like carbon for supercapacitors.

So far, the carbon required for electric vehicle capacitors comes from the earth's lithosphere, so they are considered to be non-renewable energy, which will become a practical problem in the automotive industry as demand increases. The invention in the laboratory of the University of Hohenheim will make carbon a sustainable alternative to future technologies.

The super capacitor has the advantages of high power density, fast charge and discharge capability, long cycle life, maintenance-free, high reliability, etc. The energy is much higher than that of the ordinary electrostatic capacitor, and has superior high-current discharge characteristics compared with the secondary battery.

“Supercapacitors are ideal for absorbing energy in a short period of time and can power vehicles,” says environmental engineer Hoffman. They are particularly suitable as a supplement to lithium ion batteries. Ordinary batteries provide basic current to the car, and when there are a lot of requirements, turn on the super battery.

When braking or going downhill, they are charged again by restoring the super battery. Although their energy density is low, the power density is much higher than the power density of the battery. Therefore, heavy vehicles such as railways have used capacitors to begin acceleration.

However, in electric vehicles, the application of super capacitors is still not much. It is understood that it has been applied in some models of Peugeot and Mazda. Tesla CEO Elon Musk praised the invention as addressing the graphite reserves of the next few years. Analysts also expect demand to increase significantly, which will also increase demand for natural graphite electrode alternatives.

“At present, the industry’s interest in alternatives to natural graphite supercapacitors is low,” Professor Andrea Cruise pointed out. These are finally ready for at least eight years of mass production. “However, automakers need a solution for next year,” the researchers said.

The invention of Hornheim can bring huge advantages. “Our creation is better than natural graphite,” Hoffman said, because the researchers built carbon conductors according to very specific requirements, unlike existing natural graphite.

Carbon is very versatile. It can bring countless changes, each for a specific application. In addition to greater efficiency, the biggest advantage of Hohenheim's development is its sustainable production.