Use of a zeolite slurry to increase the charge retention of a low-cost aqueous supercapacitor
<p>To increase the viability of renewable energy technology, improvements must be made to existing energy storage devices. One such device is the supercapacitor, which is able to store energy like a battery, but with faster charge-discharge times and increased cyclability. The two main factors limiting the widespread use of supercapacitor technology are the high component cost and high rate of self-discharge. In this project, both of these aspects were addressed, and a supercapacitor was successfully constructed using a carbon black slurry containing zeolitic structures with a pore size of 4 Å to accommodate the electrolyte ions of potassium and chloride. Low-cost materials and production methods were used to create a supercapacitor with a measured capacitance of 17.25 F g⁻¹ and a coulombic efficiency of 100% determined by galvanostatic charge-discharge curve measurements.</p>