High Performance, Low Temperature Asymmetric Supercapacitors

Today's military equipment is required to operate in extreme conditions: frigid arctic locations, dry/hot deserts, and humid tropical jungles, which leads to design operating temperature ranges of approximately -50degreesC to 70degreesC for current power systems. No commercial electric power storage device can perform at high rates at the lower limits of this temperature range, and technologies that come close typically suffer from instability in the upper temperature range. To address this need, ADA Technologies, Inc. (ADA) proposes to combine high capacitance activated carbon nanocomposite electrodes and high-rate nanocomposite intercalation electrodes with the novel low temperature electrolyte design capabilities of Prof. Wesley Henderson of North Carolina State University (NCSU) to develop advanced asymmetric supercapacitors for high-power, low temperature Army applications. The resulting device will have specific energy greater than that of commercial asymmetric devices and be able to maintain>10 Wh/kg at<-45 degrees C at moderate rates.