Introduction
Structural energy storage devices refer to a broad category of devices that can simultaneously bear the mechanical loading and store energy to achieve weight reduction. Specifically, we are studying structural supercapacitors and structural batteries. These devices have the potential to reduce both mass and volume for many applications, such as electrical vehicles and transportation because they can provide both structural and electrochemical energy storage capabilities.
Multifunctional Efficiency Metric for Structural Supercapacitors
A new energy-based multifunctional efficiency (MFE) metric is developed using micromechanics solutions for structural supercapacitors consisting of composite electrodes that can store electrical energy and sustain mechanical loads. Multifunctional efficiency metrics quantify the volume and/or mass savings when structural and functional materials are replaced by multifunctional materials and evaluate the trade-off between different functionalities.
Figure 1. Structural efficiency normalized by mass fraction of multifunctional electrode as a function of aspect ratio under uniaxial loading along axis 1. The multicolored gradient surface plot represents the results based on the new MFE metric. The red meshed plane is the result based on rule of mixtures. Variables a2 and a3 are in logscale. Schematics a to g are not drawn to scale