What is a Supercapacitor?
A capacitor is an electronic component primarily designed to store electrical energy in an electric field. They are found in almost all electronic devices. To increase the energy storage capacity of capacitors, scientists throughout history have explored various methods, including changing different dielectric materials and making capacitors as stacked thin plates, but none of these methods achieved a significant breakthrough in increasing the capacitance of capacitors. However, the emergence of supercapacitor technology ultimately solved this problem.
The “super” aspect of supercapacitors, compared to traditional capacitors, lies in their ability to store tens of thousands of times the electrical charge while maintaining a relatively small volume. For example, in a museum, there are four supercapacitors produced by Torch Electronics, with the smallest having a capacitance of 0.06F, and the largest reaching 1.5F. Traditional capacitors in the museum’s collection have capacitance values that are at most in the microfarads (millionths of a Farad) range.
The Secret Behind the “Super”
In traditional capacitors, charges can only be distributed on the surface, and the inner space with a certain thickness cannot store charges. However, the unique structure of supercapacitors consists of a layer of porous carbon material covering parallel metal plates inside. This allows a large amount of charge to be distributed on the surfaces of this porous carbon material. It is estimated that one gram of this specially designed porous carbon material can have a surface area of over 2000 square meters when unfolded. In other words, supercapacitors have achieved a breakthrough in the way they store charges, transitioning from a two-dimensional to a three-dimensional approach. This is the “super” secret of supercapacitors.
The Birth of Supercapacitors
The birth of supercapacitors can be traced back over 140 years. In 1879, the German physicist Helmholtz discovered the properties of a double-layer capacitor at the electrochemical interface, proposing a capacitor with a high Farad capacity. In 1957, Becker filed the first patent for an electrochemical capacitor with high-surface-area activated carbon as an electrode material, which can be considered the precursor of the first supercapacitor. Unfortunately, at that time, scientists did not find practical applications for supercapacitors. It wasn’t until 1979 when the Japanese company NEC began large-scale commercial production of supercapacitors that supercapacitors gradually entered our lives.
This article is provided by JYH HSU Electronics, a manufacturer of electronic components such as capacitors and resistors.
Post time: Nov-01-2023