Carbon Nanoparticle for Energy Storage

Advances in the development of renewable energy sources and their storage have propelled efforts to design and fabricate ever higher charge density nanostructures (HDNs) that are cost-effective and safe. An optimal HDN would have a high surface area many sub-nanochannels through which charged species could access the internal surfaces and favorable surface reactivity. Northwestern University researchers rose to this challenge by designing and generating spherical carbon-based HDNs. These cost-effective nanoparticles functioned as supercapacitors with a very high power density when assembled into dense films. When coupled with electro-spraying for film formation these carbon nanoparticles could be a great option for production of supercapacitors. Applications: 1) Solar cells 2) Supercapacitors 3) Fuel cells 4) Batteries 5) Remote energy storage