Dynamic high electrical energy density storage capacitors

Electricity is the preferred energy form because it is clean at the site of use and allows the integration of renewable energy. Expanding the application of electricity however is increasing demand on the electrical circuitry that facilitate its use. Capacitors are required for short-term energy storage in all electronic circuits and are even more vital than batteries for overcoming the challenges of expanding electric power usage. A smart phone or personal computer contains >400 of them, meaning most people depend on thousands of capacitors daily. Capacitors being the key components in all electronics, need to be developed for a wider range of electrical conditions, particularly for high electrical energy density storage. Capacitors also contribute to the problem of E-waste, and their recyclability must be improved to increase the recovery of valuable materials and enhance the sustainability of future electronics. DYNASTORE will address the need for high electrical energy density storage capacitors with opportunities for recycling and end of life material recovery from E-waste. DYNASTORE will do this by developing a new class of supramolecular materials consisting of molecular building blocks that use a unique relationship between molecular rotations and the long-range crystal structure to create large recoverable electrical energy densities. This will be achieved through two separate compositional design approaches both with combined experimental and simulation work. The low synthesis temperature and solubility of supramolecular materials will be utilized to develop an easy processing of capacitors with a circular economy in which the valuable metal used for the electrodes in devices can be recovered and reused. The project will pave the way for the development of supramolecular materials with functionalities like light weight, solution processability and a more sustainable footprint compared to state-of-the-art materials used in capacitors.

Electricity is the preferred energy form because it is clean at the site of use and allows the integration of renewable energy. Expanding the application of electricity however is increasing demand on the electrical circuitry that facilitate its use. Capacitors are key components in all electronics that need to be developed for a wider range of electrical conditions, particularly for high electrical energy density storage (HEEDS). Capacitors also contribute to the problem of E-waste, and their recyclability must be improved to increase the recovery of valuable materials and enhance the sustainability of future electronics. DYNASTORE will address the need for HEEDS capacitors with opportunities for recycling and end of life material recovery from E-waste. DYNASTORE will do this by developing a new class of supramolecular materials that use a unique relationship between dynamic molecular orientations at the local length scale and the long-range crystal structure. This combination allows us to simultaneously enhance the maximum polarization, reduce the remanent polarization and increase the maximum electric field range, creating large recoverable electrical energy densities. This will be achieved through two separate compositional design approaches both with combined experimental and simulation work. First, we will use the molecular orientational disorder to frustrate the long-range order, producing relaxor-like ferroelectrics, with zero remanent polarization and large maximum polarizations. Secondly, we will engineer electric field induced phase transitions that switch the materials from zero net polarization to high maximum polarization states similarly as in antiferroelectric capacitors. The low synthesis temperature and solubility of supramolecular materials will be utilized to develop an easy processing of plastic crystal capacitors with a circular economy in which the valuable metal used for the electrodes in devices can be recovered and reused.