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Project Title |
Green Supercapacitors |
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Name of the project coordinator |
Pr. Tarik Chafik |
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Establishment |
Faculty of Sciences and Techniques of Tangier |
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Project status |
Accepted |
Abstract of the project
The main objective of the project "Green supercapacitors" is to investigate the performances of energy storages devices so called supercapacitors considering circular economy requirements. Several prototype were constructed and tested using natural resources to produce carbon for electrodes materials obtained using agriculture by-products or food industry or mineral carbon discarded from energy production (i.e. Argan shell or Moroccan Anthracite from Jerrada). Such electrodes were tested together with appropriate electrolytes formulation (ionic liquids and water in salt), natural binders and separators. In this sense, the project addressed also a major challenging issue concerning substitution of organic solvents based on quaternary ammonium or sulphonate currently used because of their highest electrochemical performance. The research effort focused on using water based electrolyte formulations containing cheap salts instead of that, requiring the use of water processable materials because aqueous electrolytes reduce the electrochemical stability window of the cell which may yield to decreasing the power density of the capacitors. Furthermore, the project aimed at reducing the amount of critical metals used for current collectors. Note that the use of bio-based separator and binder that allow an easy disassembly after the device end of life. Hence, considering such circular economy requirements the project aimed development of electrochemical storage as green supercapacitors through technologies that may help reduce costs and environmental footprint.