Clay helps to shape high temperature supercapacitor

The Rice group of materials scientist Pulickel Ajayan reported in Scientific Reports that the supercapacitor is reliable at temperatures of up to 200 degrees Celsius (392 degrees Fahrenheit) and possibly beyond. It could be useful for powering devices for use in extreme environments, such as oil drilling, the military and space.

‘Our intention is to completely move away from conventional liquid or gel-type electrolytes, which have been limited to low-temperature operation of electrochemical devices,’ said Arava Leela Mohana Reddy, lead author and a former research scientist at Rice.

‘We found that a clay-based membrane electrolyte is a game-changing breakthrough that overcomes one of the key limitations of high-temperature operation of electrochemical energy devices,’ Reddy said in a statement. ‘By allowing safe operation over a wide range of temperatures without compromising on high energy, power and cycle life, we believe we can dramatically enhance or even eliminate the need for expensive thermal management systems.’