Digital electronic devices continue to evolve rapidly; whereas the development of methods to power these devices has been comparably minimal. Lithium-ion batteries are frequently used in handheld devices however their performance degrades over repeated usage. Electrochemical capacitors (ECs) or supercapacitors have recently advanced and are now being considered as an alternative to traditional batteries. ECs offer considerable advantages over traditional batteries in that they can be charged in about 1 second and can be recharged and discharged hundreds of thousands of times without a decline in performance. ECs have not been successfully commercialized however since the conventional battery can store more charge for a given volume.
1) High Reliability 2) Reduced Energy Usage 3) Rapid Recharging Capability (~1sec) 4) Nearly unlimited ability to recharge/discharge without degraded performance 5) Enhanced electrochemical capacitance