This supercapacitor can fully charge a device within 10 seconds
Seaweeds are macroalgae attached to rock or other substrata and are found in coastal areas. Photo: GERMI. Scientists at Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute (GERMI) have developed the thinnest, lightweight and biodegradable paper-based supercapacitor.
A supercapacitor is an electrochemical charge storage device with a fast charging/discharging cycle, high power density and a longer lifecycle.
This supercapacitor which can fully charge a device within 10 seconds, has been developed from seaweed (marine macroalgae). The device is of high tensile strength and performance, as well as cost-effective, according to the researchers.
The product can be used in electronics, memory backup systems, airbags, heavy machines, electric vehicles, etc.; hence, it holds a huge business prospect.
Scientists Priyank Bhutiya and Syed Zaheer Hasan extracted cellulose nanofibers from seaweed and reduced them into graphene oxide and zinc oxide. Nanowires were grown over the extracted seaweed cellulose nanofibers using hydrothermal methods to get the anodic paper supercapacitor.
The researchers published their findings in the peer-reviewed journal BioNanoSciecne (Springer publications) and successfully patented them.
The marine cellulose-based material used in developing the flexible and thinnest paper supercapacitor can be used in almost all smart electronic devices. It can also be a source of revenue for coastal communities that cultivate seaweed, an essential commodity for manufacturing the paper supercapacitor, the researchers noted.
Seaweeds are macroalgae attached to rock or other substrata and are found in coastal areas, said Bhutiya. They are classified as chlorophyta (green), rhodophyta (red) and phaeophyta (brown) on the basis of their pigmentation. Among them, chlorophyta holds more potential components — carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and bioactive compounds — in the cell wall. Green seaweed has a high amount of a particular type of cellulose in its cell wall.
It is the need of the hour to develop a flexible, lightweight, or cost-effective technology that can also work as a biodegradable energy storage device, according to the researchers.
Cellulose is found to be as most suitable biopolymer material for manufacturing paper-based electrode materials such as paper supercapacitors or batteries for energy storage applications. Cellulose itself is an insulating material that requires to be coated with conductive material to make a paper-based energy storage device, they said.
Green seaweeds were collected from the Porbandar coast of Gujarat. The process of making paper supercapacitors was very simple and handy. The developed seaweed-based electrode is used in an asymmetrical supercapacitor by sandwiching a sodium chloride electrolyte-soaked paper separator between two seaweed cellulose nanocomposites and activated charcoal powder slurry.
The technology was supported by Brijesh Tripathi from Pandit Deendayal Energy University and Rahul Kapadia, who assisted in testing the device to 6,000 cycles for performance, which remained the same at all cycles without any noticeable degradation.
The supercapacitor device was also tested with various analytical techniques. The research was co-authored by M Abdul Rasheed and PL Srinivasa Rao from GERMI.
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