Inspiration
Supercapacitors can have specific applications in rocket launches and space exploration, particularly in supporting the various electrical systems and components involved in the launch and flight phases. Moreover, Lithium ion batteries production which power electric cars, can emit up to 74% more carbon dioxide than the production of conventional cars. Inorder to help resolve this issue, supercapacitors are capacitors that can store exceptionally large charges in addition to their high power density, rapid charging, and long cycle life.
What NASA Proposed
NASA proposed graphene metal oxide supercapacitors which are advanced energy storage devices that combine the exceptional properties of graphene and metal oxides to create high-performance supercapacitors.
So if it works, why bother changing NASA’s proposal?
Graphene can be sensitive to environmental factors like humidity, which can limit its durability in certain conditions. Moreover, Graphene is relatively expensive to produce, and its cost can be a limiting factor for widespread adoption. In addition to that graphene is difficult to synthesize compared to polyaniline which can be synthesized with basic lab materials!
What we propose and how we built it
The structure of our polyaniline supercapacitor is similar to that of a normal supercapacitor. We set two metal plates (the electrodes) against a dielectric that has a separator between it, and intern, forming the basics of our supercapacitor. Our supercapacitor will differ in the chemical sense as it will use the unique properties of polyaniline, and metal oxide(MnO2) as electrodes, sulfuric acid as our liquid electrolyte, and an electrolytic separator. While the construction of our supercapacitor is similar to other supercapacitors, our capacity features combined with our use of polyaniline gives us a large amount of capacitance and a very rapid discharge rate at approximately ten times less cost compared to graphene.
Challenges we ran into and what we learned
Inventathon gave us the primary opportunity to research and expand our understanding of the world as well as learn to apply scientific concepts to real-life applications. This opportunity contributed to the accumulation of knowledge, theories, and insights that form the basis for further exploration and understanding. Additionally, this project taught teamwork and how to merge the business and science aspect of a potential product.Additionally, some challenges we ran into include organizing a detailed milestone timeline on the development of our prototype and gathering strong data to support the product success in not just today’s economy but the future’s economy too!
Accomplishments that we're proud of
The Polyaniline supercapacitor retains ~95% of its capacitance after 2000 cycles while the Graphene supercapacitor starts with and retains only ~80% of its capacitance after 2000 cycles. This means our Polyaniline supercapacitor is more efficient in general compared to the Graphene supercapacitor, making it great for long term use and efficiency. According to the sources, Polyaniline costs $115.5/g while graphene costs $1000/g which means it only costs $31.97 to produce one supercapacitor with polyaniline!
What's next for Power Pulse/Metal Oxide-Polyaniline Hybrid Supercapacitors
We are dedicated to sharing our knowledge with our community as a part of our participation in the MITTIC competition with our project on polyaniline supercapacitors. To do this, we intend to collaborate with the nearby high schools to build a STEM workshop. This program introduces high school students from various backgrounds to MITTIC and our work with polyaniline supercapacitors. They will have access to presentations and activities that will let them learn more about the science and its practical applications. Through demonstrations and experiments, we hope to ignite their curiosity and inspire the pursuit of STEM education. To further encourage their participation, we will allow the students to further inquire about our project in a personal manner.
Furthermore, we recognize the importance of expanding our reach beyond classrooms, and thus, we will be actively pursuing local news coverage for our MITTIC journey. By showcasing the innovative aspects of our polyaniline supercapacitors and their potential to impact the world, we aim to grab the interests of local news outlets. We hope to engage in Interviews that will provide the depth and context necessary. This media outreach is crucial to raising awareness about our MITTIC participation and the potential of our work on supercapacitors. Through these efforts, we aim to instill a sense of excitement and curiosity about STEM and innovation, extending the impact of our MITTIC journey far beyond the competition itself.
Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.