To meet the needs of future power generation and distribution energy storage devices with both high energy and power density are required; a need not met by current super/ultracapacitors which have very high power density but energy densities one order less than conventional batteries. Investigators at University of California at Berkeley have taken an innovative approach to meeting these needs by quantum size effects to substantially boost the particle dielectric constant and breakdown strength. The investigators use a nanoaggregate/composite with a high K and high breakdown strength in the ultracapcitor in order to achieve both high energy and high power density. The nanocomposite is created by bonding monodisperse core shell nanoparticles with radii 10 nm in a high breakdown strength polymer (ex. PVDF). This nanocomposite is integrated into a novel interdigitated electrode configuration to create batch scale manufacturable ultracapacitor cells with equal or superior energy density to that of lithium ion batteries (100 Wh/kg). This ultracapacitor modules are being developed for multiple applications from powering portable electronics to hybrid vehicles to energy storage for power plants especially alternative energy storage (solar wind etc.).
1) High energy 2) High power density - 100 Wh/kg and higher energy