Scientists in Sweden have made a big breakthrough in creating tiny, powerful energy storage devices using 3D printing.
Researchers at KTH Royal Institute of Technology have developed a unique method to produce glass micro-supercapacitors (MSCs), which could lead to more compact and energy-efficient portable devices, like wearable gadgets and self-sustaining sensors.
Their findings were recently published in the journal ACS Nano.
Micro-supercapacitors are special devices that store and release electrical energy. They play a crucial role in powering small, portable devices and other technologies.
One challenge in making these tiny energy storage devices is creating electrodes that store and conduct electricity efficiently.
To achieve better performance, these electrodes need a lot of surface area and nanoscale channels that allow fast movement of ions (charged particles).
The team at KTH found a way to solve this problem using ultrashort laser pulses in their 3D printing process. They used a material called hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ), which behaves like glass, as the base material.
When exposed to ultrashort laser pulses, HSQ undergoes two important changes.
First, the material forms tiny, organized plates, called nanoplates, which increase the surface area of the electrodes.
Second, the HSQ is transformed into silicon-rich glass, which becomes the foundation of the 3D printing process.
This method allows the researchers to create highly detailed and efficient electrodes that improve the performance of micro-supercapacitors.
The new 3D printing technique speeds up the fabrication process and reduces complexity, making it easier to build these advanced energy storage devices. The team demonstrated that their 3D-printed micro-supercapacitors worked well, even when charged and discharged quickly.
According to Po-Han Huang, the lead author of the study, this discovery marks a major step forward in the development of high-performance energy storage devices.
The method not only holds promise for improving micro-supercapacitors but could also be useful in other fields like optical communication, nanoelectromechanical sensors, and 5D optical data storage.
Professor Frank Niklaus, one of the researchers, added that this breakthrough could have a significant impact on everyday technology. For example, supercapacitors are already used in electronics and renewable energy systems to capture and store energy.
With the new 3D printing method, micro-supercapacitors could make these technologies even more efficient and compact, leading to better performance in smaller devices.
Source: KTH Royal Institute of Technology.
