Review—An Overview on Supercapacitors and Its Applications

Abstract

The efficient and sustainable use of energy is highly imperative to satisfy the escalating energy demands arising from the rapid commercialization of technologies. The development of novel electrochemical energy technologies is an essential aspect in the present-day scenario of rapid depletion of existing sources of energy. Conducting polymers are promising psuedocapacitive materials with an extended delocalisation network of π electrons, flexibility to functional modifications and facile intercalation and de-intercalation of electrolyte ions. These factors enable them to possess capacitances comparable with those of metal oxides. The use of copolymers in this context is noteworthy due to their diversity of combining different types of monomer units and facile integration. Carbon based materials have also been extensively employed on account of their high power densities and large number of charge-discharge cycles. The synergism of the non-faradaic double-layer capacitance with the faradaic charge transfer has the ability to provide impressive supercapacitor properties. Different types of polymer and polymer-composites based supercapacitors have been discussed with special emphasis on implantable biomedical devices and wearable electronics.