Graphene-Based Electrode Boosts Supercapacitor Storage Capacity by 3,000%

Inspired by an American fern, researchers have developed a prototype electrode that could be the answer to the storage challenge still holding solar back as a total energy solution.

The new type of electrode created by researchers from RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, could boost the capacity of existing integrable storage technologies by 3,000 percent.

But the graphene-based prototype also opens a new path to the development of flexible thin film all-in-one solar capture and storage, bringing us one step closer to self-powering smart phones, laptops, cars and buildings.

The new electrode is designed to work with supercapacitors, which can charge and discharge power much faster than conventional batteries. Supercapacitors have been combined with solar before, but their wider use as a storage solution is restricted because of their limited capacity.

RMIT's professor Min Gu said the new design drew on nature's own genius solution to the challenge of filling a space in the most efficient way possible—through the intricate self-repeating patterns known as fractals.

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