by Colin Barras/ NewScientist.com
Devices from electric cars to laptops could benefit from a new kind of capacitor, which combines the best features of conventional devices to store a large quantity of charge and release it rapidly...
Now a prototype capacitor has been made that manages to store power as
densely as a supercapacitor, but deliver it at speeds comparable with
electrostatic capacitors...
The secret to the prototype's performance is that it actually has 10 billion tiny capacitors, each just 50 nanometres across, crammed into every square centimetre. Electrodes connect up the mini devices so they can function as a single unit...
The resulting capacitor can deliver energy at a speed typical of electrostatic capacitors, at a rate that would allow a single kilogram to deliver one megawatt of power – enough to power 10,000 100-watt light bulbs. It can also store energy as densely as a supercapacitor, with 1 kg holding 2500 joules...
Full story: Atomic construction yields punchier power store