Structural energy storage is a revolutionary innovation that combines energy storage and load-bearing capacities, resulting in functional and efficient materials. This technique has numerous advantages, including weight reduction, increased space economy, and increased efficiency, making it essential in the automotive, construction, electronics, and aerospace industries.
Our Napier team, led by Dr. Libu Manjakkal, in collaboration with the Centre for Materials for Electronic Technology (C-MET), Kerala, India and the University of Leeds, developed a new transparent structural energy storage device. The developed transparent electrochemical capacitors (TEC) are capable of storing energy and sensing temperature variations. For the fabrication of TEC, the team used a radiofrequency (RF) sputtered transparent AZO electrode on an ITO-coated glass, which was prepared by Dr. S. N. Potty and team at C-MET. Characterisation of the electrodes was supported by Prof. Gin Jose at the University of Leeds.
The lead author, Febin Paul, developed the TEC and carried out a detailed analysis of the material and the energy storage device. Libu said our TEC showcases potential applications in future portable electronics and structural components due to its excellent functionalities.
The team acknowledged the support of Edinburgh Napier University SCEBE Starter Grant, The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland and EPSRC project.
The team paper published in Applied Physics Letters-https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0255229
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