Is it possible to combine the best features of batteries and supercapacitors to get both enduring energy storage and bursts of power? Batteries, to varying degrees can store energy and release it over time. Supercapacitors can provide instant, but short-lived power. Even more challenging, can can we form a hybrid structural battery, combining form with function? University of Central Florida researchers think they’ve answered those questions with a battery-supercapacitor hybrid material that could form “power suits” for electric vehicles. Improving on an Earlier Idea This blog first reported on structural batteries 12 years ago, examining the efforts of Volvo and Dr. Emile Greenhalgh of Imperial College London. Several approaches have been made to create a structural battery, but the “power suit” combines electrical potency with enough structural strength to resist driving impacts. UCF reports, “This new breakthrough continues this line of thinking, with scientists at University of Central Florida and NASA designing a new material featuring unique properties that allow for …
