Breakthrough In Energy Storage: New Carbon Material Shows Promise Of Storing Large Quantities Of Renewable Electrical Energy
ScienceDaily (Sep. 17, 2008) — Engineers and
scientists at The University of Texas at Austin have achieved a
breakthrough in the use of a one-atom thick structure called "graphene"
as a new carbon-based material for storing electrical charge in
ultracapacitor devices, perhaps paving the way for the massive
installation of renewable energies such as wind and solar power.
The researchers believe their breakthrough shows promise that
graphene (a form of carbon) could eventually double the capacity of
existing ultracapacitors, which are manufactured using an entirely
different form of carbon.
"Through such a device, electrical charge can be rapidly stored on
the graphene sheets, and released from them as well for the delivery of
electrical current and, thus, electrical power," says Rod Ruoff, a
mechanical engineering professor and a physical chemist. "There are
reasons to think that the ability to store electrical charge can be
about double that of current commercially used materials. We are
working to see if that prediction will be borne out in the laboratory."...
Full story: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080916143910.htm
