Supercapacitors, also called ultracapacitors or electrochemical capacitors, store electrical charge on high-surface-area conducting materials. Their widespread use is limited by their low energy storage density and relatively high effective series resistance. Using chemical activation of exfoliated graphite oxide, we synthesized a porous carbon with a Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area of up to 3100 square meters per gram, a high electrical conductivity, and a low oxygen and hydrogen content. This sp 2 -bonded carbon has a continuous three-dimensional network of highly curved, atom-thick walls that form primarily 0.6- to 5-nanometer-width pores. Two-electrode supercapacitor cells constructed with this carbon yielded high values of gravimetric capacitance and energy density with organic and ionic liquid electrolytes. The processes used to make this carbon are readily scalable to industrial levels.

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Carbon-based Supercapacitors Produced by Activation of Graphene

Review on thermal energy storage with phase change: materials, heat transfer analysis and applications

A review on phase change energy storage: materials and applications

This paper reviews the development of latent heat thermal energy storage systems studied detailing various phase change materials (PCMs) investigated over the last three decades, the heat transfer and enhancement techniques employed in PCMs to effectively charge and discharge latent heat energy and the formulation of the phase change problem. It also examines the geometry and configurations of PCM containers and a series of numerical and experimental tests undertaken to assess the effects of parameters such as the inlet temperature and the mass flow rate of the heat transfer fluid (HTF). It is concluded that most of the phase change problems have been carried out at temperature ranges between 0 °C and 60 °C suitable for domestic heating applications. In terms of problem formulation, the common approach has been the use of enthalpy formulation. Heat transfer in the phase change problem was previously formulated using pure conduction approach but the problem has moved to a different level of complexity with added convection in the melt being accounted for. There is no standard method (such as British Standards or EU standards) developed to test for PCMs, making it difficult for comparison to be made to assess the suitability of PCMs to particular applications. A unified platform such as British Standards, EU standards needs to be developed to ensure same or similar procedure and analysis (performance curves) to allow comparison and knowledge gained from one test to be applied to another.

A review of materials, heat transfer and phase change problem formulation for latent heat thermal energy storage systems (LHTESS)

http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/44841/1/WRAP_Tian_Review%20on%20thermal%20energy%20storage%20with%20phase%20change.pdf

Review on thermal energy storage with phase change materials (PCMs) in building applications

Basic thermodynamics of thermal energy storage.- Solid-liquid phase change materials.- Determination of physical and technical properties.- Heat transfer basics.- Design of latent heat storages.- Integration of active storages into systems.- Applications in transport and storage containers.- Applications for the human body.- Applications for heating and cooling in buildings.

Heat and cold storage with PCM: An up to date introduction into basics and applications

In this paper, the application of phase change materials (PCM) in free-cooling systems is studied. Free-cooling is understood as a means to store outdoors coolness during the night, to supply indoors cooling during the day. The use of PCMs is suitable because of the small temperature difference between day indoors and night outdoors. An installation that allows testing the performance of PCMs in such systems was designed and constructed. The main influence parameters like ratio of energy/volume in the encapsulates, load/unload rate of the storage, and cost of the installation were determined, and experiments were performed following the design of experiments strategy. The statistical analysis showed that the effects with significant influence in the solidification process are the thickness of the encapsulation, the inlet temperature of the air, the air flow, and the interaction thickness×temperature. For the melting process the same holds, but the inlet air temperature had a higher influence than the thickness of the encapsulation. With the empirical model developed in this work, a real free-cooling system was designed and economically evaluated.

Free-cooling of buildings with phase change materials

Heat transfer enhancement in water when used as PCM in thermal energy storage

Phase change materials (PCMs) are thermal storage materials with a high storage density for small temperature range applications. In the design of latent heat storage systems, the enthalpy change of the PCM has to be known as a function of temperature with high precision. During dynamic measurements, the sample is not in thermal equilibrium, and therefore the measured value is not the equilibrium value. The influence of non-equilibrium on the measurement results can be quantified by doing measurements during heating and cooling with any measurement instrument. Measurements carried out by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and by the T-history method are presented and discussed. To characterize encapsulated PCM objects, measurements on the whole objects should be carried out. A measurement setup for this purpose is also presented. The obtained precision meets typical application requirements, and good agreement between results obtained with the different methods is demonstrated.

Harald Mehling

Papers

Review on thermal energy storage with phase change: materials, heat transfer analysis and applications

Heat and cold storage with PCM: An up to date introduction into basics and applications

Free-cooling of buildings with phase change materials

Heat transfer enhancement in water when used as PCM in thermal energy storage

Enthalpy of Phase Change Materials as a Function of Temperature: Required Accuracy and Suitable Measurement Methods