Nanowires for supercapacitors

Two INAC labs have chalked up a major breakthrough that will make it easier for chip manufacturers to use supercapacitors in their computer chips. Researchers at these labs used a vapor chemical deposition process to create nanostructured silicon electrodes, and then made these electrodes both capacitive and stable through a special surface preparation.

These electrodes deliver (almost) ideal performance: they can withstand several thousand charge-discharge cycles with very little energy loss and no physical deterioration. Researchers were able to achieve voltages of 3 V–4 V using ionic liquids or ionogels as the electrolyte.

The capacity of these supercapacitors still needs to be increased to rival their large-scale counterparts, like the ones used in defibrillators. And two R&D projects—one sponsored by the EU and one by the French National Research Agency (ANR)—are underway to do exactly that.
 

Contact: fleur.thissandier@cea.fr

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