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Solar‐Thermal Driven Self‐Heating of Micro‐Supercapacitors at Low Temperatures
Author(s) -
Sun Yinglun,
Ma Pengjun,
Liu Lingyang,
Chen Jiangtao,
Zhang Xu,
Lang Junwei,
Yan Xingbin
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
solar rrl
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.544
H-Index - 37
ISSN - 2367-198X
DOI - 10.1002/solr.201800223
Subject(s) - supercapacitor , materials science , thermal , engineering physics , composite material , thermodynamics , capacitance , chemistry , physics , electrode
The solar‐thermal conversion of sunlight into heat has received considerable attention due to its low cost and high conversion efficiency. Microsupercapacitors (MSCs) are a promising class of microscale power sources for microelectronic devices, but low‐temperature operation is a huge challenge for their potential applications due to sluggish diffusion kinetics. Here, a simple strategy of adhering a graphene photothermal film on the backside of a model MSC to realize the device self‐heating at low temperatures is demonstrated. At an extremely low ambient temperature of −50 °C, graphene film can increase the actual operating temperature of MSC to −16.5 °C under irradiation of 1 sun. Solar‐driven self‐heating resulted in a 4.5‐fold increase in the specific capacitance, a 2.7‐fold increase in the rate capability, and a 2.8‐fold increase in the energy density without compromising the cyclic stability. This work presents a new application for solar energy and a new approach to improve the overall performance of MSCs at low temperatures.