| 1. |
- Jiao, Fei, et al.
(author)
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Nanofibrillated Cellulose-Based Electrolyte and Electrode for Paper-Based Supercapacitors
- 2018
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In: ADVANCED SUSTAINABLE SYSTEMS. - : Wiley. - 2366-7486. ; 2:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Solar photovoltaic technologies could fully deploy and impact the energy conversion systems in our society if mass-produced energy-storage solutions exist. A supercapacitor can regulate the fluctuations on the electrical grid on short time scales. Their mass-implementation requires the use of abundant materials, biological and organic synthetic materials are attractive because of atomic element abundancy and low-temperature synthetic processes. Nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) coming from the forest industry is exploited as a three-dimensional template to control the transport of ions in an electrolyte-separator, with nanochannels filled of aqueous electrolyte. The nanochannels are defined by voids in the nanocomposite made of NFC and the proton transporting polymer polystyrene sulfonic acid PSSH. The ionic conductivity of NFC-PSSH composites (0.2 S cm(-1) at 100% relative humidity) exceeds sea water in a material that is solid, feel dry to the finger, but filled of nanodomains of water. A paper-based supercapacitor made of NFC-PSSH electrolyte-separator sandwiched between two paper-based electrodes is demonstrated. Although modest specific capacitance (81.3 F g(-1)), power density (2040 W kg(-1)) and energy density (1016 Wh kg(-1)), this is the first conceptual demonstration of a supercapacitor based on cellulose in each part of the device; which motivates the search for using paper manufacturing as mass-production of energy-storage devices.
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| 2. |
- Wang, Hui, et al.
(author)
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Ionic Thermoelectric Figure of Merit for Charging of Supercapacitors
- 2017
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In: Advanced Electronic Materials. - : WILEY. - 2199-160X. ; 3:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Thermoelectric materials enable conversion of heat to electrical energy. The performance of electronic thermoelectric materials is typically evaluated using a figure of merit ZT = sigma alpha 2T/lambda, where sigma is the conductivity, alpha is the so-called Seebeck coefficient, and lambda is the thermal conductivity. However, it has been unclear how to best evaluate the performance of ionic thermoelectric materials, like ionic solids and electrolytes. These systems cannot be directly used in a traditional thermoelectric generator, because they are based on ions that cannot pass the interface between the thermoelectric material and external metal electrodes. Instead, energy can be harvested from the ionic thermoelectric effect by charging a supercapacitor. In this study, the authors investigate the ionic thermoelectric properties at varied relative humidity for the polyelectrolyte polystyrene sulfonate sodium and correlate these properties with the charging efficiency when used in an ionic thermoelectric supercapacitor (ITESC). In analogy with electronic thermoelectric generators, the results show that the charging efficiency of the ITESC can be quantitatively related to the figure of merit ZT(i) = sigma i alpha i2T/lambda. This means that the performance of ionic thermoelectric materials can also be compared and predicted based on the ZT, which will be highly valuable in the design of high-performance ITESCs.
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| 3. |
- Wang, Suhao, et al.
(author)
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Experimental evidence that short-range intermolecular aggregation is sufficient for efficient charge transport in conjugated polymers
- 2015
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In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 112:34, s. 10599-10604
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Efficiency, current throughput, and speed of electronic devices are to a great extent dictated by charge carrier mobility. The classic approach to impart high carrier mobility to polymeric semiconductors has often relied on the assumption that extensive order and crystallinity are needed. Recently, however, this assumption has been challenged, because high mobility has been reported for semiconducting polymers that exhibit a surprisingly low degree of order. Here, we show that semiconducting polymers can be confined into weakly ordered fibers within an inert polymer matrix without affecting their charge transport properties. In these conditions, the semiconducting polymer chains are inhibited from attaining long-range order in the p-stacking or alkyl-stacking directions, as demonstrated from the absence of significant X-ray diffraction intensity corresponding to these crystallographic directions, yet still remain extended along the backbone direction and aggregate on a local length scale. As a result, the polymer films maintain high mobility even at very low concentrations. Our findings provide a simple picture that clarifies the role of local order and connectivity of domains.
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