Publication Date

Spring 2018

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Chemistry

Advisor

Roger Terrill

Subject Areas

Organic chemistry

Abstract

With the rapid development of the global economy, the depletion of fossil fuels, and increasing environmental pollution, there is an urgent need for new technologies associated with energy conversion and storage. Supercapacitors have attracted tremendous attention and are now extensively used for energy storage. They charge and discharge quickly for high power demands but have low energy density. The goal of the research was to synthesize electrode and electrolyte materials for the fabrication of a hybrid supercapacitor cell with high energy density. In this hybrid cell, carbon nanotubes were used as electrodes, which contribute to electrostatic capacitance, and redox polymer was used as an electrolyte which accounts for redox or faradaic capacitance, thus increasing the energy density. For the reduction half-cell, ferrocene dicarboxylic acid was polymerized with polyethylene glycol phase for an electrolyte. The electrolyte for oxidation half-cell was viologen-PEG polymer, prepared by a laboratory colleague, Rana Kanishka. The hybrid cell using these materials was fabricated in a sandwich model configuration. Further, electrochemical experiments were employed for assessing the performance of the cell. In conclusion, the electrode and electrolyte materials showed excellent electrochemical behavior and were appropriate for this type of hybrid cell.

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