In an engineering first, Monash researchers have developed a graphene based supercapacitor (SC) that is compact and long lasting. This makes it usable in all types of renewable energy storage, portable electrics and vehicles. In plain english, this is a new form of battery that can store energy, is small enough for use in practical situations and is long lasting.

Before this new development, SC’s were made of highly porous carbon with liquid electrolyte to carry the charge. They are very long lasting this way but the energy they can store in comparison with their size (energy density) either made them unpractically big or if reduced in size, they would have to be constantly recharged. Either way, they presented as basically unusable.

The use of the carbon made them big and bulky. Professor Li substituted the carbon with one-atom-thick graphite which is not only exceptionally strong but it also maximised the space. The liquid electrolyte still carries the charge but it also provides the smallest of spaces necessary between sheets of graphene.

With the new developments by Professor Dan Li and his team at the Department of Materials Engineering, the graphene SC will now have an energy density comparable to that of lead-acid batteries and will be around 12 times higher than commercially available SCs.

“It has long been a challenge to make SCs smaller, lighter and compact to meet the increasingly demanding needs of many commercial uses,” Professor Li said.

The method used is similar to that of making paper which means that it can be easily expanded for industrial use without excessive costs involved.

“We have created a macroscopic graphene material that is a step beyond what has been achieved previously. It is almost at the stage of moving from the lab to commercial development,” Professor Li said.

Click here to see the Monash News release of the development.