How Supercapacitors can work with Batteries

everyone has heard of lithium ion batteries these batteries are now on our cell phones laptops cameras watches and other gadgets the first commercial lithium ion batteries were produced by sony although they have large energy densities they take a lot of time to recharge on average a laptop can take three hours to recharge what if we can reduce that number to a matter of seconds that's where super capacitors come in the first supercapacitor with low internal resistance was developed in 1982 for military applications through the pinnacle research institute and was marketed under the name pri ultra capacitor then they thought what if we can use this for fast charging applications super capacitors have very high charge and discharge rates it can charge and discharge in a matter of seconds and unlike lithium-ion batteries they virtually have unlimited recharge cycles let's say we have two containers that store water one is big but it has a small hole for water to come out the other one is small but it has a giant hole for water to come out the first container represents lithium ion batteries because they have big capacities but they charge and discharge slowly the second container represents super capacitors because they have small capacities but they charge and discharge rapidly super capacitors have energy densities of 10 000 watts per kilogram and they can operate in temperatures of negative 40 degrees lithium-ion batteries have energy densities of 2000 watts per kilogram and can only work in temperatures only as high as 40 degrees supercapacitors cost 2 400 dollars per kilowatt hour and lithium-ion batteries cost five hundred dollars per kilowatt hour but in the long term super capacitors are cheap let me explain how super capacitors work super capacitors use electrostatics instead of chemistry inside a capacitor there are two electrodes which are metal coated by a powdery activated charcoal they use charcoal because it's porous and it has low density which makes it an ideal material both the plates are soaked in an electrolyte and they are separated by a very thin carbon insulator the porous electrodes are like sponges which collect electrons each electrode attracts the opposite charge and this happens at a very fast rate supercapacitors usually have a nominal voltage of 2.3 volts many might ask what is the difference between a regular capacitor and a supercapacitor a regular capacitor stores electrical energy directly by an electrostatic field created between the two plates due to this they can't hold as much as energy as a super capacitor some people on the internet have said super capacitors are the next batteries but they are wrong if we want to increase the capacity of a super capacitor we need to expand the separator and by doing this the time it takes for electrons to cross the separator increases thus increasing the charge and discharge time scientists are trying to find alternative materials to increase the energy density of super capacitors but not decrease charge and discharge times because of this capacitors can only work with batteries but not replace them recently tesla bought maxwell technologies they are one of the best manufacturers of supercapacitors in the world some people might wonder about the application super capacitors have in electric vehicles together batteries and super capacitors can help in fast charging evs an average tesla takes 12 hours to charge fully but with super capacitors they can charge fully in 30 minutes they can also regulate the power they supply for better circulation supercapacitors can also help in acceleration of car due to their fast discharge capabilities we'll be able to accelerate faster in many gas vehicles and hybrid vehicles there is an important use of super capacitors for example the mazda 3 and 6 have a system called the eye loop they use super capacitors to store energy that is being lost in braking when a vehicle breaks the energy is converted into kinetic energy and which gets stored in super capacitors in the form of electricity this gives a bit more range super capacitors are definitely the future but they can't immediately replace lithium ion batteries comment down below what you think don't forget to subscribe and like the video thanks

Channel: Archit Sakri

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Length: 4min 28sec (268 seconds)

Published: Mon May 11 2020