Graphene Supercapacitors Can Charge Up to 1000x Faster Than Today's Batteries

There have been capacitors that are being used in computer mice, but supercapacitors that hold substantially greater charges than regular capacitors have not been useful beyond the application of bridging brief power interruptions so far.

That may change as researchers at UCLA claim to have found a way to increase their energy density and turn them into a viable alternative for batteries. Those new supercapacitors use electrodes built from graphene, a promising high-tech material that already has shown superior mechanical and electrical properties in the past and apparently revealed "excellent electrochemical attributes under high mechanical stress" in the UCLA research, which is published in the current edition of Science.

The scientists claim that their supercapacitors hold just about as much charge as a regular battery, but come with a feature that could transform the way we use gadgets and other battery driven products, such as electric cars. Richard Kaner, professor of chemistry & materials science and engineering, said that these supercapacitors "be charged and discharged a hundred to a thousand times faster" than batteries. Their study even included an explanation how to effectively produce "high-performance" supercapacitors via a solid-state approach that avoids the restacking of graphene sheets.

That process is based on "coating a DVD disc with a film of graphite oxide that is then laser treated inside a LightScribe DVD drive to produce graphene electrodes," the researchers said.

  • teodoreh
    We finally found the first person who actually used LightScribe on his DVDRW ;D
    Reply
  • friskiest
    I actually blinked twice once I got to the disk/Lightscribe part, anyway, these supercapacitors should solve the long charge times for current e-vehicles.
    Reply
  • speakmymind
    don't know how many charge/discharge cycles you can get it out of this thing
    Reply
  • joytech22
    So your saying.. Part of the manufacturing process involves putting a CD into a Lightscribe drive?
    Also, they should implement it ASAP before it just dies like that Kony thing into the back of peoples minds.
    Reply
  • fixxxer113
    clever use of Lighscribe. If you think of it, it's actually a high precision laser etching tool!
    Reply
  • __-_-_-__
    these have been around since many many years ago. Yet we don't see any practical application of the technology that could save the world.
    Reply
  • IndignantSkeptic
    FFS when are we gonna get graphene technology finally? is there anything that graphene cannot do perfectly yet?
    Reply
  • southernshark
    IndignantSkepticFFS when are we gonna get graphene technology finally? is there anything that graphene cannot do perfectly yet?

    I suspect that it will come onto the scene the same time that safe and inexpensive hair cloning is released.
    Reply
  • chomlee
    I am not sure of the advantage yet. Havent capacitors always had the ability to charge much faster than a battery? The issue is that it discharges pretty much as fast as it charges and you can't store the power for long periods of time like a battery, correct? If I am wrong and you can hold the charge, then great. Otherwise I don't really see the imediate benefit.
    Reply
  • CaedenV
    teodorehWe finally found the first person who actually used LightScribe on his DVDRW ;DLOL, when lightscribe first came out I thought it was cool, but quickly realized that it was far cheaper/easier and looked better to simply use a sharpie.

    speakmyminddon't know how many charge/discharge cycles you can get it out of this thingIndeed. My bet is that it would 1) be even more incredibly expensive than current batteries (especially if the manufacturing process requires you to run a DVD duplication plant to make your product lol). And 2) Either break down easier than current battery tech, or else have a much small capacity/range because these types of caps are generally meant for immediate use rather than long-slow usage... but imagine an electric motorcycle on one of these thing for a drag race :)

    I don't mean to say that the electric car will never catch on, but the quickest route to get it to work is to move over to nuclear power plants, and have them make hydrogen fuel cells during non-peak hours. It is relatively cheap, it is extremely clean (MUCH cleaner than normal battery tech), has more stable/longer lasting power, better capacity for longer ranges, less weight than batteries, no worrying about battery memories or other battery care issues... I mean really the only reason we will never do this is because of nuclear tech being such a hot-button issue and there is (until we get alge making it for us) no other easy way to make the hydrogen in mass.
    Reply