The Supercapacitor: The Scientific Accident that could Change the World

Julius Skrrvin

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[ame=http://vimeo.com/51873011]The Super Supercapacitor | Brian Golden Davis on Vimeo[/ame]

Meet the scientific accident that could change the world

Last year, researchers at UCLA made a rather fantastic, if serendipitous, discovery. A team of scientists led by chemist Richard Kaner had just finished devising an efficient method for producing high-quality sheets of the Nobel-prize winning supermaterial known as graphene — with a consumer-grade DVD drive. That was groundbreaking in and of itself, but the real surprise came when Maher El-Kady, a researcher in Kaner's lab, wired a small square of their high quality carbon sheets up to a lightbulb. Then something incredible happened.

As the video above explains, Kaner and El-Kady had stumbled upon an energy storage medium with revolutionary potential. Imagine filling your smart phone with a long-lasting charge in just a couple seconds, or an electric car in a minute. Future applications, first described in a March 2012 issue of Science, looked very promising.

Fast forward one year, and Kaner and El-Kady are even closer to realizing a tomorrow rich with supercapacitor technology. In a paper published in a recent issue of Nature Communications, the researchers report that El-Kady's original fabrication process (highlighted in the video) can be made even more efficient. More efficient production of high quality graphene means it's scalable. And scalability, of course, can lead to manufacturing and wide-scale technological implementation. As the researchers note in the abstract to their paper [emphasis added]:

Here we demonstrate a scalable fabrication of graphene micro-supercapacitors over large areas by direct laser writing on graphite oxide films using a standard LightScribe DVD burner. More than 100 micro-supercapacitors can be produced on a single disc in 30 min or less... These micro-supercapacitors demonstrate a power density of ~200 W cm−3, which is among the highest values achieved for any supercapacitor.

The upshot? The supercapacitors that Kanery and El-Kady are producing with freaking DVD burners could find their way into consumer tech way sooner than many might have originally guessed. (While minute-charge electric cars may still be a ways off, the fact these sheets are as unobtrusive and flexible as they are bodes well for their incorporation into near-future technologies like roll-up displays and e-paper.) According to Kaner, his lab is already courting partners in industry. Color us excited.
 

newworldafro

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I don't won't to be Debbie Downer azz negro cause this has stupid amazing potential...........but I want yall to remember the day yall saw this video...............................and see if you ever hear of this technology 5 years from now....................................

This would put whole countries and industries out of business.......................and its environmentally safe and organic my ninjas.....:lawd:...........way to real......

I hope I will see this graphene supercapacitor powering my electric car, phone, laptop..................................cotdamnit.......my lights in the crib..... :to:.....but I'm telling you.....yall think we live in a free market......wait for the regulators to hear from some of their corporate sponsors.....I mean from some other entities out there ...

I'm just saying..... :manny:
 

Julius Skrrvin

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I don't won't to be Debbie Downer azz negro cause this has stupid amazing potential

I'm just saying..... :manny:

You love to be a debbie downer ass :myman:

Some technologies are just too powerful, too easily applicable, too readily made to be denied or cornered by even the strongest corporate interests IMO. I think graphene applications fit these criteria... theyve been pitched as a theoretical silver bullet for years now... Just a matter of time:silviosmh:
 

newworldafro

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You love to be a debbie downer ass :myman:

Some technologies are just too powerful, too easily applicable, too readily made to be denied or cornered by even the strongest corporate interests IMO. I think graphene applications fit these criteria... theyve been pitched as a theoretical silver bullet for years now... Just a matter of time:silviosmh:

I hope I'm wrong.........I really do.......this is awesome as hell.....
 
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Nice Nice Nice!!

I wish I were more scientifically inclined. :wow:

I am really trying to move to an area where scientific research and development are a part of the local environment so that my daughter can benefit from this type of knowledge.

The Princeton area is my goal for now. Schools are fab, lots of nerdy asian immigrants. :ohlawd:


Local environment and unique circumstances played such a HUGE role in the lives of people like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and other techies.


Environment acts like a super-advantage (or disadvantage).
 

rapbeats

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if i dont hear about this in 5 years. i'll be burning DVD's myself :mjpls: how's about you?

this is lovely.
 

iNad925

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I don't won't to be Debbie Downer azz negro cause this has stupid amazing potential...........and its environmentally safe and organic my ninjas


came in to question this and :damn: :wow:
 
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