Balla D. Ngom
Country (Nationality)
Senegal
Grantee Title
Project Title: Innovative Electrode Materials for Energy Storage Applications as Supercapacitors
Grantee Description
Host Organisation: Universite Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, Senegal
Summary
Batteries currently support portable devices and the hybridization of vehicles due to their superior energy density. However, battery technology is severely limited when it comes to power density, showing strong capacity fading at high charge/discharge rates, as well as a limited cyclability. Supercapacitors, on the other hand, have excellent power rates and cyclability but suffer from much lower energy densities. For balancing of the electric grid to enable us to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy from wind or sun, large-scale energy storage systems that can provide both the best possible energy and at the same time the best possible power performance are utterly needed, not the least in Africa and developing countries, but there is a void. The hybrid or asymmetric supercapacitor concept, combining battery and supercapacitor technology, has a true potential to fill this void. We here suggest a 2-years basic research project on novel materials forming the base for this kind of devices. We also stress the overall eco-friendliness by utilizing various biomass sources as starting materials.
The primary purpose here is indeed to develop a basic research effort on materials needed to bridge the gap between supercapacitors and batteries with regard to the energy and power performance by combining electrodes using traditional carbon-based approaches using novel architectures and incorporating 2D materials with novel electrolytes based on ionic liquids.