Carbon based supercapacitors and their future trends

As an important energy storage device, supercapacitors fill the gap between conventional dielectric capacitors and batteries in terms of specific energy and power. Although supercapacitors have been used in electric vehicles, digital communication instruments, and pulsed lasers, further improvement of supercapacitor performance is highly needed to enhance the energy density without significantly losing the power density. Additionally, the conventional supercapacitors use rigid packages and liquid electrolytes, which limit applications in portable electronics. To address these challenges, the talk will mainly focus on: 1) improvement of the energy density of carbon nanoonions by chemical activation; 2) laser-assisted activation of carbon nanotubes for improved energy density; 3) fabrication of flexible solid-state supercapacitors based on nanocarbon and manganese dioxide (MnO2) hybrid electrodes; and 4) investigation of the electrochemical performance of graphene as transparent and flexible supercapacitor electrodes. Finally, a potential strategy for fabrication of transparent supercapacitors will be discussed.
Dr. Yang Gao has been conducting research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, specifically working with the Synthesis of advanced functional materials for supercapacitor applications. He completed the B.E. and M.S. degrees in Physics at East China Normal University, and finished the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is a member of the Materials Research Society and the Laser Institute of America, and won 1st place in the Spring 2012 Nano Science Art Competition at the Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience.