Ultra capacitors

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General thread:


Here's a company.
1st Lighten The Load Inc. self-healing capacitor, energy storage, printed electronics, UPED

[johnr]

I think ultracapacitors have a huge potential. Their power density and longevity are unmatched - but they're still lacking in energy density compared to lithium batteries. Using nanotechnology, the surface area can be increased significantly - and since the surface area of a capacitor is directly proportional to its energy density, I see no reason why such a "nano-ultracapacitor" couldn't eventually surpass the energy density of the best batteries.

[WarpedOne]

... and since the surface area of a capacitor is directly proportional to its energy density, I see no reason why such a "nano-ultracapacitor" couldn't eventually surpass the energy density of the best batteries.

Real physical things never scale linearly over orders of magnitude.
"Surface area is directly proportional to its energy density" actualy means the error in calculating it in this way is insignificant. But this changes dramaticaly as you start to reach ultra high densities comparable with intramolecular bonds. When that happens linear scaling disappears. People that know something about making ultracapacitors don't see how this limit could be overcome buy simply "scaling up" of current principles.

[johnr]

Oh, my mistake then. I know the energy density is related to the surface area and the thickness of the dielectric. But I was incorrectly assuming that at those "nano" scales it would remain fairly linear. Still there's got to be a lot of room for improvement ... theoretically at least.

[dpeilow]

Argonne project mixes lithium-ion batteries with ultracapacitors

[TEG]

Big Growth Seen in Ultracapacitors for EVs. And Here Comes Ioxus. | BNET Auto Blog | BNET

[TEG]

Design, Construction and Performance of a Buck-Boost Converter for an
Ultracapacitor-Based Auxiliary Energy System for Electric Vehicles

[Kevin Sharpe]

This is an interesting ultra capacitor project http://chargecar.org/

[Norbert]

Ultracapacitors to Boost the Range of Electric Cars - Technology Review

A startup called Nanotune says its ultracapacitor technology could make electric cars cheaper and extend their range. The company, based in Mountain View, California, has developed a way to make electrodes that results in ultracapacitors with five to seven times as much storage capacity as conventional ones.

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Ultracapacitors to Boost the Range of Electric Cars - Technology Review

Nanotune, however, which has raised $3 million from the venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, says its ultracapacitors are close to competing with batteries in terms of energy storage, and could soon surpass them.

Small number, big name.