Storage

Energy - Storage - About The Sector

Rechargeable batteries and supercapacitors are two additional promising areas when it comes to energy storage using nanotechnology. For instance, nanostructures such as Si and Ge nanowires, CNTs and nanoporous materials are used to enhance power performance, battery functions and safety of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Nanomaterials such as LiCoO2, LiFePO4, LiMn2O4, and LiAlO2, SiO2, TiO2, Al2O3, ZrO2 and Sn2O3 are also commonly used. Supercapacitors store energy electrostatically by polarizing an electrolytic solution and are commonly used in commercial power storage applications such as light-rail, electric vehicles and power grids. Nanomaterials typically used in supercapacitors are a) metal-based nanocomposites and conductive polymers, b) carbon-based nanostructures (carbon, graphene and CNTs), and c) hybrid inorganic/organic nanocomposites.