Soft Matter and Complex Systems Seminar

Super capacitors have attracted much attention recently as green energy storage devices with remarkable cyclability and high power densities, but moderate stored energies. In this talk, I will focus on the physics and optimization of super capacitors with narrow, subnanomoter-sized pores, which show enhanced capacitances and energy densities. We shall discuss the origin of such an anomalous increase of capacitance; the dynamics of charging in narrow pores; the effect of ionophobicity of pores on energy storage and charging dynamics; and the design of optimal charge/discharge protocol.