High Energy Density Asymmetric hybrid supercapacitors for applications in consumer goods and electrification

Exploring innovative high-energy-density asymmetric hybrid supercapacitors of two dissimilar EDLC-type and battery-type electrodes.

Deployment of high-energy-density hybrid supercapacitors in the mobility and consumer goods sectors

Why HEDAsupercap

Aiming to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, Europe is shifting from an energy system dominated by centralised fossil fuel generation to a more resilient and secure system with increased renewables.

Energy storage is a crucial enabler in this transition.

Among various energy storage technologies, electrochemical energy storage devices, including batteries and supercapacitors (supercaps), have drawn considerable attention in recent years. While batteries, due to their high energy density, play a dominant role in the decarbonisation of the transport sector and stationary energy storage, supercaps complement batteries and can substantially contribute to applications where high power density and long service life are demanded.

Notwithstanding remarkable progress, the majority of commercially available supercaps possess low energy density, and there are many technical challenges and commercialisation barriers to be overcome.

• Develop scalable, cost-effective, and sustainable processes to produce electrode materials, electrolytes, and current collectors.
• Demonstrate a supercapacitor cell with maximum energy ~8.5 times higher than that of the state-of-the-art commercial alternatives in the market.
• Extending the driving range (30 to 40 km) of e-scooters by 10%;
• Demonstrate a “mini” supercapacitor as the energy storage unit in bikers’ hand-warming gloves with reduced recharging time;
• Uptake the achievements of the last-mile mobility and the wearable electronics demonstration use cases to predict their evolutionary perspectives to roadmap the possibility of integrating supercap modules with the Li-ion battery pack for vehicle traction and fast charging;
• Develop an innovative supercap management system with accurate cell voltage monitoring with a high sampling rate;
• Study the supercap technology evolution to evaluate the business and the impact on the value chain in the context of the automotive manufacturing plant.
• Propose a business plan for the technology uptake;
• Determine the user perspective of knowledge and its impact on the current value chains in larger volume and lower access costs applications of automotive.

Objectives

Achievements

The HEDAsupercap project will address the unmet challenges for asymmetric supercap devices.

The consortium is committed to:

Developing novel materials and processes, particularly in terms of energy density improvement;
Working on sustainable production of key components (incl. electrode materials, electrolytes, and current collectors);
Minimising or eliminating the use of critical raw materials (CRMs);
Developing an innovative supercap management system;
and analysing the market and value chain with target applications in electric scooters (last-mile mobility, including sports means) and hand-warming gloves (consumer wearable electronics for sport & leisure).

Methodology

The HEDAsupercap project aims to develop high-energy-density asymmetric hybrid supercapacitors consisting of two dissimilar EDLC-type and battery-type electrodes.

The improvement of energy density will be accomplished through the asymmetric cell design and development of novel materials and components, including electrode materials, ionic liquid electrolytes and current collectors.

Sustainable, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective synthetic approaches will be employed to ensure the elimination of critical raw materials (CRMs) usage and the minimisation of environmental impact during the component’s production. Supercapacitor cells and modules comprised of newly developed components, along with an innovative management system, will be developed and demonstrated in electric scooters for last-mile mobility as well as in hand-warming gloves for sport & leisure.

Comprehensive techno-economic and value chain analyses will be carried out, and a business case and exploitation strategy will be developed by the end of the project to map out the future commercialisation of the HEDAsupercap technology.

AVISORY BOARD

The consortium and the R&I activities will be supported by HEDAsupercap’s Advisory Board (AB), constituted of several internationally renowned experts who will provide advice and guidance on the project’s performance and setting priorities, review the progress of work, identify areas of improvement, and help to plan next steps.

The following experts have confirmed their commitment to being members of the AB: