ULTRACAPACITORS(GRAPHENE

ELECTRODES):REVOLUTIONARY ALTERNATIVE FOR BATTERIES IN 1

AUTOMOBILE AND STORING ENERGY !

Prathamesh .P.Patil, Nitin Pawade, TE MECHANICAL,Kolhapur Institute Of Technology, Email id
prathamesh.2309@gmail.com

 range ofmarketsincluding motorsports, automotive, aerospace, heavy

industry, heavy transportation, maritime, and renewables and grid.
Abstract—. This paper is concerned with the use of
ultracapacitors in hybrid vehicles in place of batteries. In
the case of the mild, charge sustaining hybrid, the
ultracapacitors would replace a lithium or nickel metal
hydride battery: for a stop-start micro-hybrid, the
capacitors would be used in combination with a lead-acid
battery with the capacitors starting the engine, accepting
energy during regenerative braking, and providing
accessory loads during relatively short stop periods.
Ultracapacitors indicating higher energy density (more
than 2X) than that of commercially available
carbon/carbon cells.The advanced devices showed no
sacrifice in high power capability in order to achieve the
higher energy density.The paper also focuses on using of Figure(a): ultracapacitor
GRAPHENE in supercapacitors and how it changes the
whole game for capacitors use in HEVS AND EVS.The
supercapacitors consist of two layers of graphene with an Construction and Working of ultracapacitor
electrolyte layer in the middle.The flim is strong
excwwdingly thin,and is able to release a large amount of
energy in a short amount of time,which is
essential.Vehicles need an extra energy spurt for
acceleration and this is where supercapacitor jumps
in.They hold a limited amount of charge ,but are able to
deliver it quickly,making them perfect for complement to
mass storage batteries.Hence they offer faster acceleration
rate if the car and a charging time of just few minutes.

KEYWORDS:

I. INTRODUCTION

Figure(b): construction details of ultracapacitors

What are ultracapacitors?
The double sided coated electrodes are made from graphite
Ultracapacitors, or supercapacitors as they are also known, are
carbon in the form of activated conductive carbon, carbon
a novel energy storage technology that offers high power
nanotubes or carbon gels. A porous paper membrane called a
density, almost instant recharging and very long lifetimes.
separator keeps the electrodes apart but allows positive ion to
Ultracapacitors have been in development for well over a
pass through while blocking the larger electrons. Both the
decade but the technology has developed rapidly in the recent
paper separator and carbon electrodes are impregnated with
years. This development has been driven by advances in
the liquid electrolyte with an aluminium foil used in between
nanomaterials, the electrification of infrastructure and industry
the two to act as the current collector making electrical
and increased concerns around fuel efficiency. Ultracapacitors
connection to the ultracapacitors solder tabs.The double layer
are now delivering significant economic benefits across a wide
construction of the carbon electrodes and separator may be
very thin but their effective surface area into the thousands of
meters squared when coiled up together. Then in order to
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increase the capacitance of an ultra-capacitor, it is obvious that Where: VCELL is the voltage of one cell, and CCELL is the
we need to increase the contact surface area, A (in m2) without capacitance of one cell.
increasing the capacitors physical size, or use a special type of
As the voltage of each capacitor cell is about 3.0 volts,
electrolyte to increase the available positive ions to increase
connecting more capacitor cells together in series will increase
conductivity.
the voltage. While connecting more capacitor cells in parallel
Then ultra-capacitors make excellent energy storage devices will increase its capacitance. Then we can define the total
because of their high values of capacitance up into the voltage and total capacitance of a ultracapacitor bank as:
hundreds of farads, due to the very small distance d or
separation of their plates and the electrodes high surface
area A for the formation on the surface of a layer of
electrolytic ions forming a double layer. This construction
effectively creates two capacitors, one at each carbon
electrode, giving the ultracapacitor the secondary name of
“double layer capacitor” forming two capacitors in series.
Where: M is the number of columns and N is the number of
However, the problem with this small size is that the voltage
rows. Note also that like batteries, ultracapacitor and
across the capacitor can only be very low as the rated voltage
supercapacitors have a defined polarity with the positive
of the ultra-capacitor cell is determined mainly by the
terminal marked on the capacitor body.
decomposition voltage of the electrolyte. Then a typical
capacitor cell has a working voltage of between 1 to 3 volts,
depending on the electrolyte used, which can limit the amount
of electrical energy it can store.In order to store charge at a Why ultracapacitors over other power sources?
reasonable voltage ultracapacitors have to be connected in
series. Unlike electrolytic and electrostatic capacitors, ultra-
capacitors are characterized by there low terminal voltage. In
order to increase there rated terminal voltage to tens of volts,
ultracapacitor cells must be connected in series, or in parallel
to achieve higher capacitance values as shown.

PRIMARY ENERGY SOURCES like internal combustion

engines, fuel cells and batteries work well as a continuous
source of low power. However, they cannot efficiently handle

peak power demands or recapture energy in today's
applications because they discharge and recharge slowly.
ULTRACAPACITORS deliver quick bursts of energy during
peak power demands, then quickly store energy and capture
excess power that is otherwise lost. They efficiently
complement a primary energy source in today's applications
because they discharge and recharge quickly.
WHERE ULTRACAPACITORS WORK
Harvest power
from regenerative braking
systems and release power
to help hybrid buses
accelerate.
Reliably crank semi-trucks in cold
weather or when batteries are drained
from repetitive starting or in-cab electric
loads.
Provide cranking power and voltage
stabilization in start/stop systems,
backup and peak power for key
automotive applications – and serve
as energy storage in regenerative braking
systems.
Provide energy to data centers between
power failures and initiation of backup
power systems, such as diesel generators
or fuel cells.
3
Capture energy and provide burst
power to assist in lifting operations.
Used in blade pitch systems and to help
increase reliability and stability to the
energy grid.
BATTERY VS SUPERCAPACITOR
A battle as old as the technologies
themselves: ultracapacitors and batteries rule the energy
storage industry, fighting for a place at the top. Batteries, as
the older and more established technology, wear the crown,
but ultracapacitors have taken huge technological leaps
forward in the past decade, and are now overtaking batteries
in lifetime and usability in the high power density for short-
term energy storage.
Ultracapacitors and batteries differ in one significant way:
ultracapacitors store energy in an electrostatic field and
batteries store energy as part of a chemical reaction. Now, if
you just need to power your flashlight, you can buy a set of
Alkaline batteries and go on your merry, well-lit, way.
But if your application is more complex and has more
demanding requirements, it's vital to understand the
characteristics of each technology.
Ultracapacitors are what's known as fast energy storage and:
 have the high power density, meaning they can provide
very high currents (Thousands of Ampères) during a
short time (Ideally, less than 10 seconds)
 charge and discharge very quickly (less than a minute)
 have a lifetime of over 1 million charge-discharge cycles
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 have very low internal resistance (a few tenths of a (Wh/L)

milliohm) and work close to 100% efficiency Power density (W/kg) 1,500 3,000 - 40,000
 are significantly lighter than batteries
Voltage of a cell (V) 3.6 2.7 - 3
 have high tolerance for extreme temperatures
 don’t contain harmful chemicals or toxic metals ESR (mΩ) 500 40 - 300

 will never overrun of start a fire, they will always fail in Efficiency (%) 75 - 90 98
a nice way
500,000 -
 have a significant leakage current, meaning they Cyclability (nb recharges) 500 - 1,000
20,000,000
discharge if no used, but not totally
Life 5 - 10 years 10 - 15 years

Self-discharge (% per 40 - 50
2
Batteries are known as slow energy storage and: month) (descending)

Charge temperature 0 to 45°C -40 to 65°C

 have much higher energy density, meaning they can
operate for a long time (a few hours) Discharge temperature -20 to 60°C -40 to 65°C

 charge and discharge slowly (a few hours) Deep discharge pb yes no

 usually have a lifetime of about 2000-3000 charge-
Overload pb yes no
discharge cycles, sometimes longer depending on how
they have been treated Risk of thermal runaway yes no

 have an efficiency of about 70 to 80% which result in Risk of explosion yes no (1)
heat that requires dissipation
Charging 1 cell complex easy
 do no like to pushed hard during charging or
discharging, fast charging shortens lifetime Charging cells in series complex complex

 sensitive to overcharging and 0% charged stated Voltage on discharge stable decreasing (2)
 have a very low leakage current
200 - 1,000
 operate poorly in very cold or warm temperatures Cost per kWh 10,000 €
€
 contain toxic and environmentally harmful chemicals.
 can overrun and cause a fire, although this is now very
Table(1):detail comparison of batteries and ultracapacitors
rare

Batteries and ultracaps both have their uses and can be

complementary after some considerable amount of integration. DISADVANTAGES OF A ULTRA CAPACITOR

Li-ion
Feature Supercapacitor 1) Even the best capacitors today hold just 100wh/kg, which
Battery
about 5% of the energy density of lithium ion battery of the
Gravimetric energy same weight, hence we would need a capacitor of a size of a
100 - 265 4 - 10
(Wh/kg) bus to drive one then.Hence they need to be charged for every

Volumetric energy 220 - 400 4 - 14 5 miles.


2) The amount of charge stored depends on thickness and
surface area of electrode,this may seem to be small for a naked
eye but in atomic level it is way thick.
3) voltage delivered goes on decreasing as the capacitor
discharges.
To over come this diasabilities of ultracapacitors the
aluminium electrode is been replaced by GRAPHENE.
GRAPHENE
Single layered graphene
Graphene is the well-known two-dimensional carbon
monolayers composed of all-sp2-hybridized carbons with
some of the most intriguing properties, i.e., lightweight, high
electrical and thermal conductivity, highly tunable surface
area (up to 2675 m2 g−1), strong mechanical strength (∼1 TPa)
and chemical stability . These outstanding properties enable
graphene and graphene-based materials to find applications in
high performance structural nanocomposites, electronics, and
environmental protection and energy devices including both
energy generation and storage . The combination of these
outstanding physical, mechanical and chemical properties
make graphene-based materials more attractive for
electrochemical energy storage and sustainable energy
generation, i.e., Li-ion batteries, fuel cells, supercapacitors,
and photovoltaic and solar cells . For instance, the theoretical
specific capacitance of single-layer-graphene is
∼21 uF cm−2 and the corresponding specific capacitance is
−1
∼550 F g when the entire surface area is fully utilized .
5
However, the practical capacitive behavior of pure graphene is
lower than the anticipated value due to the serious
agglomeration during both the preparation and application
processes. Therefore, boosting the overall electrochemical
performance of graphene-based materials still remains a great
challenge. Graphene is the monolayer of graphite, which can
be prepared by several techniques. Geim et al. prepared
graphene from graphite and demonstrated an experimental
method to prepare a single layer of graphite with thickness in
atomic scale, named as graphene. Since then graphene has
become popular in various application aspects due to its
inherently superior electrical/electronic and optical properties
(i.e., tunable bandgap, extraordinary electronic transport
behavior, excellent thermal conductivity, high mechanical
strength and largely tunable surface area) . Also, some
chemical and physical techniques for synthesis of graphene
have been developed. Graphene oxides (GO) are another
important member in the graphene–graphite family, which are
considered as derivatives of graphene. They that can be
readily made from graphite, exhibit the layered structure and
the surface-related properties . Depending on the synthesis
techniques, there can be different surface groups in graphene
oxides as well as their distributions on the surface. Graphene
oxides can be readily converted into graphene by different
reduction processes. The reduction of graphene oxide (GO) by
both thermal method and reducing agents . As a precursor for
graphene, GO can be easily derived from the oxidation of
natural graphite at a large scale and low costs. The reduction
of GO is a low-cost technique for producing graphene . The
atomic layers of GO generally comprises phenol epoxy and
epoxide groups on the basal plane and ionizable carboxylic
acid groups around the edges . The acid groups on the ionized
edge enable the stabilization of GO in aqueous dispersion in
the form of a single-sheet layer through weak dipole and
quadrupole van der Waals interaction in the surrounding
environment. This makes GO a high degree of processing and
dispersion ability in solution, and offers the desired convenient
method for producing graphene-based materials in a large
scale.
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The above fig show that Graphene is the strongest material

ever discovered and is much stronger than steel and Kevlar.

Conclusion

Graphene-based materials are attractive candidates for

supercapacitor electrodes. Graphene may eventually replace or
compliment other carbon materials as sources of high surface
area and therefore high capacitance. More laboratory-scale
capacitor cells need to be assembled and replicated to verify
the technological improvements over cheaper carbon
materials, but some laboratory data have looked promising.
Cost effective mass production of single-layer graphene has
not yet been realized, although it may be possible.
Nevertheless, few layer graphene still shows improved
performance over other carbon materials, and it is much easier
to obtain. In particular, reduced graphene oxide (rgo) materials
are very easy to make and could be competitive
commercially.With use of capacitor together with graphene it
is surely a gamechanger in the way we store energy and drive
our hevs and evs.

REFERENCES
1) C. LIU, Z. YU, D. NEFF, A. ZHAMU AND B.Z. JANG,
“GRAPHENE-BASED SUPERCAPACITOR WITH AN ULTRAHIGH
ENERGY DENSITY,” NANO LETTERS, 10, 4863–4868

2) Skeleton Technologies plus literature review

3) Wolf, E. L. in Applications of Graphene 19–38 (Springer,

2014)