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What Is a Capacitor?
A capacitor is a two-terminal electrical device that
can store energy in the form of an electric charge
Capacitor is a device that is used to store an electric
charge. It is basically an arrangement of conductors.
A capacitor typically consists of an insulator with
two metal plates attached on both sides of the
insulator. Insulators do not conduct current. The
insulator used in capacitors is called a dielectric.
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Difference between capacitor and battery
Engineering
RV College of
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Difference between capacitor and battery
Engineering
Capacitors: Batteries:
• Higher power density • Have higher energy density
• Over a million charge-discharge • Typically 200–1000 charge-discharge
cycles cycles
• Environmentally friendly • Contain highly reactive and hazardous
• Extremely low internal resistance chemicals
(reactance) • Negatively effected by low temperatures
• High efficiency (97-98%) • Slower and steady charge / discharge rate
• Much faster charge and discharge rate •
Capacitor
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Power density refers to how quickly a device can discharge its energy, while energy
density refers to how much energy a device contains.
Power density is ratio of power available from a battery to its mass (W/kg)
Energy density is defined as the energy available from a cell to its weight (Whr/kg)
Supercapacitors
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Supercapacitors
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A supercapacitor is an electrochemical capacitor that has an very high energy
density as compared to common capacitors, about 100 times greater.
Supercapacitor is also known as Electric Double Layer Capacitor(EDLC) or
Ultracapacitor.
The capacitance range is From 100 Farad to 5K Farad
Super capacitors
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supercapacitors consist of two porous electrodes,
electrolyte, a separator and current collectors.
(i) Electrode material
(ii) Electrolyte material
(iii) Current collector
(iv) Binder
(v) Separators
Construction of super capacitor
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Metal
Porous carbon
Backside electrical
contact
Super capacitor
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Supercapacitors are considered
between Capacitors and Batteries.
The main reason is that Supercapacitor
charges/discharges very fast like a
capacitor and its capacity is high.
Supercapacitors can safely and regularly discharge
100% of their stored energy, while batteries can
only discharge 50-80% of their stored energy
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Differences between capacitor and
supercapacitors
Capacitor vs Super capacitor
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• The main difference that exists between a capacitor
and a supercapacitor is that supercapacitors are
based on carbon technology.
• Due to this carbon technology, these capacitors are
able to create a very large surface area.
• This area exists even with an extremely small
separation distance.
Working of Supercapacitors
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Working of Supercapacitors
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Positively and negatively charged ions are present between the two
plates of the supercapacitor's electrolyte solution.
One of the plates develops a positive charge whereas the other plate
develops a negative charge when a voltage is placed across the plates.
The positively charged plate attracts the negatively charged ions in
the electrolyte solution, whereas the negatively charged metal plate
attracts the positively charged ions towards itself.
A thin coating of ions is deposited on the inner surface of both plates.
An electrostatic double layer is formed as a result, which is like
connecting two capacitors in series.
Since the space between their charge layers is relatively small, each of
the two resulting capacitors has a high capacitance value.
A supercapacitor's total capacitance can be calculated by dividing (C1
× C2) by (C1 + C1).
Applications of Supercapacitors
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Classification of super capacitors
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Super capacitors classification
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& Electrodes
Electrolytic double layer capacitor Go, Change the World
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Ion adsorption
Electrolytic double layer capacitor Go, Change the World
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•Electrostatic Double Layer Capacitors comprises two electrodes, a separator, and
an electrolyte.
•Electrolyte is a mixture comprising positive and negative ions dissolved in water.
•
•The two electrodes are separated from each other through a separator.
•The supercapacitors use carbon electrodes with much higher electrostatic double-
layer capacitance.
Capacitor discharged/charged
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Pseudo capacitors
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Double layer capacitance
1. Inner Helmholtz potential
2. Outer Helmholtz potential
3. Specifically Adsorption of ion
4. Redox reaction(Specifically adsorbed ions-redox ions)
RV College of
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•Pseudo Capacitors are also referred to as electrochemical pseudo-
capacitors.
•They make use of metal oxide or conducting polymer electrodes
that have a high amount of electrochemical pseudocapacitance.
•They store electrical energy by electron charge transfer between
electrode and electrolyte.
•It is done through the oxidation and reduction reaction commonly
known as a redox reaction.
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hybrid capacitor
Engineering
Disadvantages of Supercapacitors
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• Supercapacitors discharge themselves much more frequently
which is significantly higher than a battery.
• There are low voltages that exist within individual cells due to
which series connections are necessary to attain greater
voltages.
• There is a significantly lesser amount of energy stored per unit
weight in comparison to an electrochemical battery.
• Supercapacitors deliver a poor energy density compared to
batteries. It is equal to between one-fifth and a tenth of the
battery's energy.
• They cannot be utilized in circuits with AC or higher frequencies.
