Supercapacitor Basics and Overview Journal

Journal of Information and Computational Science ISSN: 1548-7741
Supercapacitor: Basics and Overview
1
Joshi P.S, 2Sutrave D.S
1
Walchand Institute of Technology, Solapur University, Solapur, Maharashtra
2
D.B.F Dayanand College of Arts and Science, Solapur University, Solapur, Maharashtra-
413006
preetij12@gmail.com, dattatraysutrave@gmail.com
Abstract
Supercapacitors are the ideal electrochemical energy storage devices that bridge the gap
between conventional capacitors and batteries tolerating the applications for various power
and energy requirements. In supercapacitors like ordinary capacitor, there are two plates
separated by a dielectric and has an electrolyte inside it separating its plates and store more
energy than ordinary capacitor by creating double layer of separated charges between two
plates made from porous, typically carbon-based materials. The energy in supercapacitors is
stored by means of ion adsorption at the electrode/ electrolyte interface, hence the name
electrical double layer capacitors (EDLC). Thus, it offers the ability to store or release
energy in few seconds with extended cycle life .The paper covers a concise review on
supercapacitor including energy storage mechanism, concept, classification and
applications.
Keywords: Supercapacitors, Energy Storage, Concept, Principle, Review
I. INTRODUCTION
Environment and energy are the issues that are going around for years. This issue involves
the whole world. The climate variation and insufficient availability of fossil fuels have
greatly affected the world’s economy as well as ecology. Accordingly the important matters
related with energy crisis and global warming are the production, conversion, storage and
utilization of energy. Electricity plays a vital role in our daily lives. It is a versatile form of
energy and not easy to store in a hurry. So the prominence is on the proficient storage of
energy for proficient consumption or utilization. Indeed, now there is a rapid increase in
renewable energy production from Sun and wind, which are the most abundant resources.
However due to the irregular nature of solar and wind energy, there is critical requirement of
such energy devices which are safe to operate, cost-effective , have less environment impact
and also can store the energy when in excess and release it when it is in high demand.
So the energy storage devices such as batteries, fuel cells and supercapacitors are playing a
larger part in our life. Electrochemical energy conversion has attracted a lot of attention as
the efficiency of conversion is high and is reusable over a large number of cycles [1]. An
electrical charge works as a clean, efficient and versatile oxidizing or reducing agent for
several electrochemical reactions [2].
Volume 9 Issue 12 - 2019 609 www.joics.org

II. ELECTROCHEMICAL ENERGY CONVERSION AND STORAGE

SYSTEMS
It is necessary to develop energy storage devices to store the harvested energy for wide
applications. Supercapacitors (electrochemical capacitors), batteries, fuel cells and
conventional capacitors are commonly used energy storage devices. Batteries and fuel cells
are generally used for energy storage in industrial and consumer electronic devices because
of their high energy density. Batteries can hold large amounts of power but they take hours to
charge up. Fuel cells have low energy density. On the other hand, capacitors charge
instantaneously but store only small amounts of power. So according to demand, it is
necessary to store and release large amounts of electricity very quickly. Owing to this, the
energy storage devices such as electrochemical capacitors which are having high power
density, long cycle life, cost effective and small size are useful. Because of their
tremendously high capacitance density, electrochemical capacitors are also known as
Supercapacitors.
III. THEROTICAL BACKGROUND OF SUPERCAPACITOR

A supercapacitor (SC) also called as ultracapacitor or electric double layer capacitor
(EDLC) is a high-capacity electrochemical capacitor with capacitance values much higher
than other capacitors.
Larger capacitance can be achieved by large surface area electrodes and very thin dielectric
whereas small surface area electrodes and very thick dielectric are responsible for smaller
capacitance.The supercapacitors work similar to the conventional capacitors. However, the
supercapacitors can store more charge because the increased charge can be stored by the large
number of pores within the electrodes having high surface area and the charge separation
occurs across a very small distance i.e between the electrolyte and an electrode.
Basically, supercapacitor consists of two electrodes, an electrolyte and a separator.
The electrodes have high surface area. The electrolyte is the mixture of positive ions and
negative ions dissolved in water. These two electrodes are separated by a membrane i.e.
separator that allows the mobility of charged ions. Separator is rolled or folded into a
cylindrical shape container. It may be solid state, organic or aqueous type.
In case of supercapacitors, electrical charge storage mechanism is same but charge
accumulates at the interface of a conductor and an electrolyte. Thus, a double layer is formed
due to accumulated charge. One of the layers is due to charged electrode and the other one is
created due to electrolytic ions. The charge storage process is non-faradaic in nature because
no electron transfer takes place across the electrode –electrolyte interface and the storage of
charge and energy is purely electrostatic.
The specific capacitance of such double layer can be,
C 
 .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ...(1.1)
A 4d
where,
C = Capacitanc e ,
A = surface area,
 = Dielectric constant of medium between tw o layers ( electrolyt es) ,
d = Distance between tw o layers (the distance from the electrode surface to the
Centre of ion layer)

In short, Supercapacitors are now growing interest because it involves movements of ions to
and from electrodes surfaces, hence storage is rapid. Along with this, supercapacitors are
maintenance free materials having good stability and high life cycle.
IV. ENERGY STORAGE MECHANISM

Up till now, the proposed principles of energy storage are electrical double layer mechanism
in which charge is stored electrostatically, pseudocapacitive charge storage in which charge is
stored electrochemically.
i. Electrostatic Double Layer Capacitance

In 1950 in a US patent the conception of electrochemical double layer was proposed in which
working principle of supercapacitor was expressed [3].After that various models like
Helmholtz model, Grahame model, Gouy-Chapman model and Gouy-Chapman-Stein model
have been explained which gave the performance for electrodes under potentiostatic control
in electrolyte.
In general, an EDLC is an electrochemical capacitor that stores the charge electrostatically
[4]. When the electrode is dipped in the electrolyte, impulsively two opposite charges are
built at the interface of electrode and electrolyte. These opposite charges are represented as
double electric charge layers .This charge process is schematically illustrated in figure 1. On
the surface of the electrode one charge layer with one polarity (positive/negative) and in the
electrolyte solution another charge layer with opposite polarity are formed. These two charge
layers are separated by a layer of solvent or water molecules. This layer separating opposite
charges works as a dielectric. These solvate molecules forbid the charge flow between
electrode and electrolyte. When the supply is suitably connected to the electrodes, the double
layer capacitor starts charging.
Figure 1. Schematic drawing of basic double layer principle.
When a electrode is dipped in an electrolyte, either the electrolyte ions are adsorbed onto the
electrode surface or dissolution of electrode atoms into the electrolyte takes place. But any of
these develops a charge separation between electrode surface and electrolyte. This forms a
electrochemical double layer that can be used for charge storage. By increasing applied

voltage , the amount of stored charge can be increased. The increase in applied voltage will
place excess charges on the electrode surface and force the oppositely charged ions from the
electrolyte to arrange near the electrode.
When the power is switched off, that is no electron flow is provided then the charge is stored
at the electrode/electrolyte boundary and the charge is stored until the external is provided.
Double –layer Capacitance is given by the ability of store the charge in this particular
manner. And this is the charge storage mechanism in supercapacitors.
Here, the double layer capacitance is given by,
1 1 1
  .......... ... ...(1.2)
C C C
double layer Helmholtz capacitance diffusion layer capacitance
The electrodes with high surface area and conductivity are useful for superior performance of
supercapacitor. A large amount of work has been accounted on graphite carbon electrodes
[5]. Carbon materials as having low cost, good electrochemical stability, conductivity and
good processing ability are the most efficient candidates [6] . The amount of charge stored
per unit voltage in an electrochemical capacitor is primarily a function of the electrode size.
The electrostatic storage of energy in the double-layers is linear with respect to the stored
charge, and corresponds to the concentration of the adsorbed ions. In conventional capacitors
the charge is transferred via electrons, but in double layer capacitors the capacitance is
related to the limited moving speed of ions in the electrolyte and the resistive porous structure
of the electrodes. As no chemical changes take place within the electrode or electrolyte,
charging and discharging electric double-layers in principle is unlimited [7] .
ii. Electrochemical Pseudocapacitance

Unlike EDLC, this method totally depends on fast and reversible electrochemical redox
reactions and energy is stored faradaically by electron charge transfer between electrodes and
electrolyte ions. This method is faradaic in origin. Fast reversible faradaic charge transfer
reaction results in increase in energy density than EDLCs.
With the proper bias, the charged atoms in the electrolyte move towards the charged
electrodes having opposite polarity. Between the electrode and the adjacent electrolyte, two
electric double layers separated by electrolyte molecules are formed. Thus the charge is
stored in double layers. This pseudocapacitance can be accomplished with a charge transfer
between electrolyte and electrode coming from de-solvated and adsorbed ion .The adsorbed
ion has no chemical reaction with the electrode atoms as there is only charge transfer. In this
way, unlike batteries, only the top part of electrode is utilized as the redox reactions take
place on surface which avoids the structural changes leading to the better stability. Figure 2
gives the formation of double layer and charge transfer clarifying the psuedocapacitance [8].
Inner layer consists of solvent, ions and fully not solvated molecules which are called
specifically adsorbed to the electrode surface. Inner Helmholtz layer is given by the centre of
this adsorbed layer. It gives the closest approach of solvated ions. These ions interact with
electrode surface in a long –range electrostatic fashion only and are called nonspecifically
adsorbed. The outer Helmholtz layer is the plane having maximal charge density and from
this layer, diffusion layer begins [9]. Only long range electrostatic forces dominate because

solvated ions interact with charged metal ions. Hence double layer affects the structure of the
electrode as well as the electrolyte layer itself.
Figure 2. Easy view of a double-layer with specifically adsorbed ions which have
submitted their charge to the electrode to clarify the pseudocapacitance.
The amount of electric charge stored in a pseudocapacitance is linearly proportional to the

applied voltage. Thus the capacitance can be calculated by ---
 (q )
C .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .(1.3)
 (V)
where,
q = amount of charge stored,
V = change of the potential.
Conductive polymers and metal oxides show the significant pseudocapacitive property.
V. CLASSIFICATION OF SUPERCAPACITORS
A supercapacitor consists of electrode, electrolyte and separator, where electrode plays a vital
role for the performance of supercapacitor. It is a important task to search electrode materials
with excellent performance. The properties of supercapacitors are related to the interaction of
their materials. Particularly, the combination of electrode material and type of electrolyte
determine the functionality and thermal and electrical characteristics of the capacitors.
As described earlier, the energy storage in supercapacitors is mainly of two: static double-
layer capacitance and electrochemical pseudocapacitance. Recently, a third type that store
charge electrochemically and electrostatically has been lifted up. There are three types of
supercapacitors based on storage principle.
Double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) make use of high surface area carbon materials like
activated carbon, carbon nanofibres, carbon aerogels and CNTs. Pseudocapacitors use
transition metal oxide or conducting polymer as electrodes. And hybrid capacitors are having
asymmetric electrodes, of which one has electrostatic and the other has electrochemical
capacitance.

VI. MATERIALS
i. ELECTRODE
The capacitance of the device is largely reliant on characteristics of electrode properties.
Electrodes must have the properties as good conductivity, high chemical stability, controlled
pore structure, high corrosion resistance, temperature stability, processability, environmental
friendly and low cost. The capacitance can be increased due to the capacity of the material to
carry out faradaic charge transfers. The ability of electrodes to achieve pseudocapacitance
effects by redox reactions, intercalation or electrosorption depends on the chemical affinity of
electrode materials to the ions adsorbed on the electrode surface as well as on the structure
and dimension of the electrode pores. The thickness of the double layer and charge stored by
electrochemical pseudocapacitance mechanism highly depends upon the electrode surface
area. So spongy, porous material can be used as electrode. By porous electrode material
having proper structure that matches with the size of the electrolyte ions improves the
electrochemical performance . Suitable pore size distribution has greater influence on
capacitance , specific energy ,equivalent series resistance and specific power.
i.a. Electrodes for Electrostatic Double Layer Capacitors (EDLC)
Carbon
Carbon is most economical material for supercapacitor. Carbon in many appearances as
activated carbon, carbon aerogel and CNTs are the most commonly used electrode materials.
Carbon materials have high surface area .Micropores in carbon contribute to
pseudocapacitance. Even though their conductivity is less, they are efficient supercapacitor
electrodes [10].
Activated Carbon
Activated carbon can be transformed into solid compact electrodes by aqueous dispersions of
polystyrene, ethylene , acrylic acid copolymer [11-12] etc. Activated carbon powder is
pressed into desired shape to form CAC (Consolidated Amorphous Carbon) having a block
consisting of wide distribution of pores [13]. D,Qu et al studied a number of activated
carbon materials with different surface area, pore size, pore volume and linked these with
electrochemical capacitance [14] .
Carbon Aerogels
Carbon Aerogels are considered as promising materials due to low density, high surface area,
good conductivity , mechanical stability, vibration stability and no additional binders
required. Pyrolysis and Resorcinol formaldehyde methods are used for making aerogel
electrodes. Lerner and Laclair et.al created a carbon aerogel electrode with specific
capacitance of 104 F/g, specific power for 20 W/g and specific energy density of 90 Wh/kg.
[15-16]

Carbon Nanotubes
Carbon nanotubes are helpful for improving the capacitor performance because of the
highly wettable surface area and high conductivity [17-18] . Niu et al reported carbon nano
tubes as leading material for electrodes for the first time [19] . The porous nature of CNT
permit easy entrance of ions from the electrolyte into the electrode pores. Maximum specific
capacitance of 135 F/g was reported by Frackowiak et.al [20]. CNTs have high surface area
and low ESR than activated carbon [21]. But the high cost limits its application.
i.b. Electrodes for Pseudocapacitors
Metal Oxides
Literature survey shows a variety of metal oxides have been studied. As per the principle of
pseudo-capacitors, electrode materials and electrolyte should contact effectively, so that
ions/charges should transport fast in the bulk of electrode and at the interface between
electrode and electrolyte in order to reach admirable properties. Therefore, transition metal
oxides with mesopores ( size between 2 and 50 nm) are complimentary for building
supercapacitors with high performance due to their large specific surface area and suitable
pore size distribution [22]. These include RuO2, MnO2, CO3O4, TiO2, SnO2,
IrO2,NiO,Fe3O4,V2O5, MoO3 etc. Metal oxides alone or in combination generate strong
faradaic reactions with low ESR. [23]. Some of the metal oxides which are extensively
studied are discussed below.
RuO2
Ruthenium dioxide was first reported as a electrode material in 1971 since then it has been
widely studied as a capacitive material in either hydrous or anhydrous form [24]. Due to its
excellent reversible redox reactions in aqueous media and high conductivity, hydrous
ruthenium oxide has been the most active structure [25-27] .
The redox reactions of ruthenium oxide not only occur at the electrode/electrolyte
interface but also inside the bulk of the material. Ruthenium oxide gives relatively constant
and appreciable capacitance over a 1 V range [24] with specific capacitance ranging from
600 to 1000 F/g depending on the preparation methods, measurement conditions, etc.[28-29]
Ruthenium oxide achieves a high capacitance in acidic environment by a fast and reversible
electron transfer due to an electroadsorption of the proton on the surface. It can be expressed
as [30]
 
RuO  xH  xe  RuO (OH) .......... .......... ...(1.4)
2 2x x
Very high stability or long cycle life is also another advantage of Ruthenium Oxide which
shows that it can be charged up to 105 times with very less degradation [31]. Also the mirror-
like voltammogram (Figure 3) shows its ideal capacitive behaviour[32]. .
Amorphous and hydrous ruthenium oxide in the powder form synthesized by sol-gel process
was promising with high power density and energy density as supercapacitor electrode [33].
I.D Raistick et.al reported the specific capacitance of 768 F/g from an amorphous hydrous
ruthenium oxide prepared by sol-gel method [34].

Figure 3 . Cyclic Voltammetry scan for Ruthenium Oxide.
Organic precursor method was used by Fang et.al for preparation of ruthenium oxide thin
film and obtained specific capacitance of 593 F/g [35] .Zheng et.al, Fu et.al. ,Sugimoto et.al,
and Yuan et.al showed that the factors such as crystallinity and the amount of water in the
material are strongly related to the capacitive and electrical properties of ruthenium oxides
[36-39] . Heating in air and hydrothermal treatment used by Long et.al showed that the
hydrous regions permit easy proton penetration through the materials resulting in increase in
the electronic conductivity and decrease in proton diffusion resistance [40] .Synthesis
process plays important role for the crystallinity of the ruthenium oxide. Ruthenium oxide
can be prepared by number of methods from aqueous solutions. By vapour deposition,
sputtering techniques , good crystalline form of ruthenium oxide can be achieved. But due to
increased crystallinity , the penetration of protons into the material is not too easy.In this
case only surface reaction is responsible for capacitance determination ,so the values are low.
To the other side amorphous ruthenium oxide allows fast, continuous faradaic reaction within
material giving high capacitance [41-44] . Intrinsic nature and high mesoporosity of hydrous
ruthenium oxide revealed high capacitance [45] . Colloidal method was adopted by Fu et.al to
prepare ruthenium oxide [46] .Chemical bath deposition method was successfully used by
Lee et.al giving specific capacitance of 500F/g from hydrous ruo2 [47] .
Hu et.al and Park et.al et.al have prepared hydrous ruthenium oxide by electrochemical
deposition and obtained maximum specific capacitance of 788 F/g [48-49] . Unhydrous
amorphous RuO2 prepared by spray pyrolysis method gave specific capacitance of 551 F/g
[50] . Very high cost due to the limited availability of ruthenium is the major drawback of
ruthenium oxide as supercapacitor electrode. So to improve the utilization along with lower
cost , ruthenium oxide can be combined with other cheap metal oxides such as nickel oxide,
manganese oxide, tin oxide, titanium oxide etc.
MnO2
A number of less expensive metal oxides can be used to replace ruthenium oxides , which is
efficient to reduce the cost. Literature analysis shows that manganese dioxides are important
materials for lithium batteries, sensors, alkaline cells. Manganese oxides have been used as
electrode materials for batteries in various crystalline and amorphous forms. Manganese
dioxide is one of the potential candidates as electrode materials in supercapacitors because of

its low cost, natural abundance, excellent capacitive behavior and environmental capability,
high energy density [51]. The charge storage of manganese oxide can be as, [52]
MnO2  xC   yH  ( x  y)e   MnOOCx H y .......... .........(1.5)
Porous films of manganese dioxide are desirable for capacitive applications. Suh-Cem et.al
used sol-gel method for preparation of MnO2 thin films [53]. Electrodeposition method used
by Pang et.al reported specific capacitance of the order of 700 F/g in a potential window of 0-
0.9 V [54] .Many groups reported specific capacitance of MnO2 in the range of 100-300 F/g
[55-56] . Low material utilization and reactivity due to poor conductivity of MnO 2 averts
itself from the best material for supercapacitors [51] . RuO2 has the advantage of bulk
conductivity throughout the electrode as the entire material is involved in electrical
conduction but in case of MnO2, only the surface is involved in electrochemical reaction [57].
NiO
NiO is having low cost, high theoretical specific capacitance and diverse redox [58]. Sol-gel
method was adopted by Liu et.al to fabricate porous nickel oxide electrode [59] . The charge
storage mechanism of NiO can be given as, [60]
NiO  OH   NiOOH  e  .......... .......... .......... ......(1.6)
Nickel oxide films from thermal treatment of electrodeposited Ni(OH)2 [61-62] has also
been reported. The specific capacitance of 148 F/g at 100 mV/sec from electrodeposition, 135
F/g from deposition on nickel foil and 195 F/g from deposition on graphite foil were
obtained.
Co3O4
Cobalt oxide has three forms: cobaltous oxide (CoO), cobaltic oxide (Co2O3) and cobalt
cobaltite (Co3O4). Out of these, the most studied form for supercapacitor application is
Co3O4. It shows the capacitive behaviour in negative voltage range (-0.4 to 0.4 V) [63-64 ] .
The charge storage mechanism was suggested to be [65].
Co 3O 4  H 2O  OH   3CoOOH  e  .......... .......... ....(1.7)
Conductive polymers
Owing to the properties as high electrical conductivity, low cost as compared to metal oxides,
environmental friendly, fast charge/discharge ,high capacitance, conducting polymers are
considered as promising materials for supercapacitors as electrodes .Some of the studied
polymers are Polyaniline(PAn), Polypyrrole(PPY), Polythiophene (PTh), Poly(p-phenylene
vinylene)(PPV) etc. Unlike activated carbon, total mass and volume is involved in charge
storage for conducting polymers resulting in high specific capacitance. The obtained high
capacitance values are 210 F/g for PEDOT [66] ,480 F/g for PPy[67], 775 F/g for PANI[68] .
The important disadvantage of conducting polymers is poor mechanical stability; it
undergoes swelling/ shrinkage/ cracks/ breaking etc. which lead to progressively exaggerate
conducting property [69]. Hence such electrodes usually suffer from limited cycling stability.
i.c. Electrodes for Hybrid Capacitors
Hybrid capacitors are asymmetric. An electrode with high amount of pseudocapacitance and
another with high amount of double layer capacitance are combined together. Due to this

specific capacitance, specific power as well as specific energy increases. The combination
can be CNT-conducting polymer, Metal oxide-conducting polymer.
Sahoo et al showed degradation of the film has been decreased after repeated cycles[70]
showed the improved capacitance performance of CNT-PPY than pure PPY . Zhang et.al
adopted synthesis of PPY/MnO2 composite by reassembling process which resulted in higher
conductivity than pure MnO2 at room temperature [71].
ii. ELECTROLYTE
Electrolyte consists of solvent and dissolved chemicals that separate into positive and
negative ions which make the electrolyte electrically conductive. The conductivity is
dependent on the number of ions in the electrolyte. The function of electrolyte is to provide
the molecules for separating monolayer in Helmholtz double layer and to deliver the ions.
The operating voltage, specific capacitance, power density of electrochemical capacitors is
greatly influenced by the choice of electrolyte. The thickness of the double layer is dependent
on the concentration and ion size of the electrolyte. Energy storage in supercapacitor
combines pure electrostatic interaction between the charged capacitor plates and the ions
from the electrolyte solution and the processes associated with the redox reactions of the
electrode material. The resistance of the supercapacitor cell is strongly dependent on the
resistivity of the electrolyte used and size of the ions from the electrolyte that diffuse in to
and out of the pores of the porous electrode particles. The attainable cell voltage of a
supercapacitor depend on the breakdown voltage of the electrolytes, hence possible energy
density will be limited by electrolyte. Power density is dependent on cell’s ESR, which is
strongly dependent on electrolytes conductivity [72] . Figure 4. gives the idea about critical
properties of supercapacitor that are greatly affected by electrolytes [73].
Figure 4. Supercapacitor Performance Reliant on Electrolyte.
As the redox reactions take place at the electrode-electrolyte interface, it should have
considerable ionic conductivity and minor/negligible electronic conductivity. Ionic
conductivity of the electrolyte depends on the concentration of ions/charge carriers and the
ability of the charge carriers to move in an electric field. An electrolyte must be chemically

and electrochemically still and also it must not chemically attack the other materials in the
capacitor (electrodes, current collectors etc.) so that degradation of the electrode will reduce.
To soak the porous and sponge like structure of the electrode, electrolytes’ viscosity must be
low. It must have good thermal stability, wide voltage window, low flammability, low
toxicity, low cost and environmental friendly. So to upgrade the performance of given
electrolyte and thus to the performance of corresponding supercapacitor ,great efforts have
been devoted for searching and development of novel electrolytes .Usually, three types of
electrolytes are used for electrochemical supercapacitors.
ii.a. Aqueous electrolytes
An aqueous solution is a solution in which the solvent is water. The most commonly used
aqueous electrolytes are acid and alkaline electrolytes because of high conductivity and
particular proton transport mechanism. Small size of proton and its high mobility in aqueous
electrolyte consent it to chemisorb to a single oxide ion. But aqueous electrolytes limit the
cell voltage to typical 1 V on account of electrochemical window of water is 1.23 V [74].
When the voltage exceeds 0.8 V then potential of one of the electrodes may be beyond
thermodynamic limit resulting in decomposition of water[75] . The low operating voltage
results in low energy density. By using high concentration electrolytes, high conductivity can
be achieved and also ESR gets reduced. Aqueous electrolytes are harmless to the
environment and less costly . The most commonly used aqueous electrolytes are 1 mol L-1
H2SO4 and 6 mol L-1 KOH [76].Concentrated Sulphuric acid is usually used for RuO2
electrodes [77]. For MnO2 based supercapacitors , mild KCl was also used. .Another widely
used aqueous electrolytes are sodium sulphate and sodium chloride. [78-79]. K. Fic et al
reported the highest operating voltage of 2.2 V with an exceptional cycling stability in
Li2SO4 [80]. Though chloride solutions have higher ionic conductivity but cause corrosion on
current collectors such as stainless steel . Sulphate based salts showed long term stability but
have lower solubility. Corrosion resistant collectors such as gold and platinum are expensive.
[81] However, the swapping between ionic conductivity and corrosion is up to researcher ,
neutral-pH aqueous electrolytes appear as a more promising choice from industrial point of
view. So the Aqueous electrolytes are used in supercapacitors with low specific energy and
high specific power.
ii.b. Organic electrolytes
Electrolytes with organic solvents like acetonitrile (ACN), propylene carbonate (PC), diethyl
carbonate, y-butyrolactone, tetrahydrofuran are used as organic electrolytes .Organic
electrolytes allow for a cell voltage above 2V which increase the energy density because the
specific energy is directly proportional to square of voltage. The solubility of salts in organic
solvents is relatively low. Due to higher resistivity, power density decreases .Larger pore size
of the electrode is required for organic electrolytes due to the large size of organic molecules.
For organic electrolytes the cost increases than aqueous electrolytes. During production,
organic electrolytes have to undergo very rigorous purification and drying processes. Fine
solubility and fairly good conductivity made tetraethyl ammonium salts ((C2H5)4BF4) as
preferred electrolyte [82]. A maximum voltage upto 3.75 V in adiponitrile has been reported
by Brandt et al [83]. Propylene carbonate - based electrolytes generally present lower
conductivity. Acetonitrile based electrode resulting in relatively lower power output.
However ohmic loss should also be considered than large voltage window. Even if organic

electrolytes are widely used, high cost, low conductivity, low power, low capacitance,
toxicity and flammability these disadvantages must be taken into account.
ii.c. Ionic Electrolytes
Ionic liquids (ILs) are room temperature molten salts, which are entirely composed of cations
and anions .ILs reveal properties for supercapacitor applications which includes high thermal
stability, non flammability ,very low toxicity, non-corrosive to supercapacitor components at
elevated temperatures and high electrochemical stability over a wide voltage window from 2
to 6 V (typically about 4.5 V). But during the production it is very difficult to maintain high
purity. However, due to their high price and relatively low conductivity at room temperature
limit the supercapacitor applications in large scale. Imidazolium, pyrrolidinium, as well as
asymmetric, aliphatic quaternary ammonium salts with anions such as tetrafluoroborate,
trifluoromethanesulfonate , hexafluorophosphate bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) imide,
bis(fluorosulfonyl) imide are the presently studied ionic liquids for supercapacitor
electrolytes [84]. The resistivity of ILs is dependent on temperature and they might show
remarkable properties at high temperature as higher thermal stability and suitable resistance .
iii. SEPARATOR
The properties of separator also affects on the performance of supercapacitor. A separator
physically separates the two electrodes and exclude the electrical contact between them but
allows ionic charge transfer. It should have high electrical resistivity, high ionic
conductance, very thin , porous to reduce ESR and chemically static to keep the stability
and conductivity of electrolyte. Ceramic or Glass fibre separators are commonly used with
aqueous electrolytes and with organic electrolytes polymer or paper separators are used [85].
VII. APPLICATIONS
Supercapacitors mostly find the applications in the fields where a very high number of
charge or discharge cycles or a longer lifetime is required and where a large amount of power
is needed for a relatively short time. High power advantage of supercapacitor allows the
opportunities in power electronics .In the field of uninterrupted power supply as well as
security, supercapacitors are the representative examples. The area where large current is
required for a short time are starting of the heavy diesel engines or hybrid vehicles. Gold
Caps ( small size supercapacitors ) from Tokin are widely used as maintenance- free power
sources for microcontrollers and IC memories. Because of superior power performance and
better environmental acceptance, supercapacitors are best suited as starters. In wind turbine
pitch, supercapacitors provide backup power so if main supply fails then also it is possible to
adjust the blade pitch [86]. Supercapacitors can stabilize the power supply in applications
with fluctuating loads such as laptops, photovoltaic systems, GPS, portable media players ,
hand-held devices [87]. In Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), supercapacitors have
substituted much larger banks of electrolytic capacitors. Due to this, the cost per cycle
reduces, extends battery life, saves maintenance. The effects of short power interruptions and
high current peaks can be justified by inducing Supercapacitors as they buffer power to and
from rechargeable batteries. Supercapacitors are used in defibrillators where they can deliver
500 joules to shock the heart back into sinus rhythm. Supercapacitors can be used as

temporary energy storage devices for energy harvesting systems as energy stored on a
supercapacitor can be used to power ASIC for over 10 hours.
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Journal of Information and Computational Science ISSN: 1548-7741

Supercapacitor: Basics and Overview

Volume 9 Issue 12 - 2019 609 www.joics.org

II. ELECTROCHEMICAL ENERGY CONVERSION AND STORAGE

III. THEROTICAL BACKGROUND OF SUPERCAPACITOR

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IV. ENERGY STORAGE MECHANISM

i. Electrostatic Double Layer Capacitance

Figure 1. Schematic drawing of basic double layer principle.

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ii. Electrochemical Pseudocapacitance

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The amount of electric charge stored in a pseudocapacitance is linearly proportional to the

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i.a. Electrodes for Electrostatic Double Layer Capacitors (EDLC)

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Figure 3 . Cyclic Voltammetry scan for Ruthenium Oxide.

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Figure 4. Supercapacitor Performance Reliant on Electrolyte.

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multiwalled carbon nanotubes for Supercapacitors, J.Mater.Chem19 (2),(2009a);

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73. C. Zhong, Y. Deng, W. Hu , J. Qiao , L.Zhang and J.Zhang, C. Zhong et.al,2015,A

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