Question

Graphene based supercapacitors

Answer 1

Graphene is a thin layer of pure carbon, tightly packed and bonded together in a hexagonal honeycomb lattice. It is widely regarded as a “wonder material” because it is endowed with an abundance of astonishing traits: it is the thinnest compound known to man at one atom thick, as well as the best-known conductor. It also has amazing strength and light absorption traits and is even considered ecologically friendly and sustainable as carbon is widespread in nature and part of the human body.

Answer 2

Graphene is essentially a form of carbon, and while activated carbon has an extremely high relative surface area, graphene has substantially more. As we have already highlighted, one of the limitations to the capacitance of ultracapacitors is the surface area of the conductors. If one conductive material in a supercapacitor has a higher relative surface area than another, it will be better at storing electrostatic charge. Also, being a material made up of one single atomic layer, it is lighter. Another interesting point is that as graphene is essentially just graphite, which is a form of carbon, it is ecologically friendly, unlike most other forms of energy storage.
Due to the lightweight dimensions of graphene based supercapacitors and the minimal cost of production coupled with graphene’s elastic properties and inherit mechanical strength, we will almost certainly see technology within the next five to ten years incorporating these supercapacitors. Also, with increased development in terms of energy storage limits for supercapacitors in general, graphene-based or hybrid supercapacitors will eventually be utilized in a number of different applications.