Electrochemical Techniques for Supercapacitors

Abstract

It is possible to investigate the electrochemical properties and performance of energy storage devices at the material level with a three-electrode setup and at the device level with a two-electrode setup. A significant new kind of energy storage device, a supercapacitor, has emerged in the last ten years. A potentiostat can be used to measure the supercapacitor's electrochemical performance by employing three- and two-electrode systems. The working, reference, and counter electrodes are part of the systems with three-electrode configuration. The working electrode is a research target because it is the electrode on which the potential is manipulated and the current is monitored. When conducting electrochemical experiments, the reference electrode serves as a reference for maintaining potential in the cell, and the counter electrode is utilized to connect the closed circuit. In a two-electrode system, both electrodes could be used as working electrodes. Using cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques gives precise findings for measuring electrochemical properties such as specific capacitance, energy density, power density, cyclic stability, and impedance of supercapacitors. When testing the electrochemical performance of supercapacitors with three- and two-electrode systems and a potentiostat device, several experimental design techniques are shown by altering the parameter values. An electrochemical system with three- and two-electrode systems may be tested using CV, GCD, and EIS techniques, allowing the researcher to measure the performance of supercapacitors. This chapter details various important electrochemical techniques and explains the required measurements for supercapacitors.