Brief Review on the Influence of Nanomaterials on Supercapacitor Configurations and Performance

Energy storage devices have been made and developed over hundreds of years in orderto power many real-life applications and store energy for when it is not easily accessible.Recently, due to advancements in nanotechnology, supercapacitors, which differ from traditionalcapacitors and batteries, have become an excellent middle-ground device. These nanomaterialsimpact how the supercapacitor performs in various metrics, including capacitance, energydensity, and power density, which are essential when considering the context in which they willbe used. It follows that the specific groups of nanomaterials used in these experiments,including metal oxides, carbon and graphene, and even a mix of the two groups, impact theseproperties even more than just the existence of nanomaterials. The chemistry behind howenergy is stored and how electric fields are created differs between different types ofsupercapacitors, including electrostatic storage, electrochemical reactions, and a combination ofboth between the two plates, which has different effects on the aforementioned metrics. Whilemany efforts have successfully improved performances over time, cycle stability and the cost ofthe materials continue to be pertinent problems that are still being tackled.