Clean Energy Capability Portfolio | Storage Technologies |
Structural Supercapacitors and
Batteries
Lightweight energy storage is vital to environmentally-friendly transport , including electric vehicles , drones , and wearable devices . Structures that can simultaneously carry load and store electrical energy , while simultaneously providing an energy density equivalent to the current state-of-the-art supercapacitors or batteries , are critical enablers for these new technologies . |
Competitive Advantage • The current bottleneck preventing the production of structural energy storage devices is the development of a stiff and strong material – one that also exhibits the high ionic conductivity required to facilitate the electrochemical processes inherent in common energy storage devices , such as batteries and supercapacitors
• Development of structurally strong batteries and supercapacitors
• Ability to integrate energy storage into the load bearing capability of a transport structure , eliminating or reducing the need for a traditional energy storage device and its weight from the platform
• Significant weight savings in autonomous vehicles resulting in improved energy efficiency for direct energy requirements , and embedded communications and sensing technologies that allow energy to serve other applications for greater overall capability
|
Successful Applications • Demonstration of the first generation of structural batteries by embedding flexible lithium-ion batteries into laminated fibre composites . The resulting structure can simultaneously store electricity and carry load .
Our Collaborators • Defence Science and Technology Group ( DSTG )
More Information Scientia Professor Chun Wang
School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
T : + 61 2 9385 3232
E : chun . h . wang @ unsw . edu . au
|
Impact |
|||
• Lightweight energy storage devices for Defence applications where high-energy storage density is required , and can be directly integrated into applications |
|||
99 |