For decades researchers and technologists have regarded batteries and capacitors as two distinct energy storage devices — batteries, known for storing more energy but releasing it slowly; capacitors, for quickly discharging it in smaller spurts. Each new energy storage device has therefore been categorized as one or the other, or as some relation to one of the two, depending on the electrochemical mechanism enabling it. But an international team of researchers, who are leaders in developing and studying energy storage technology, has now suggested that these mechanisms actually exist on a smooth spectrum, and trying to categorize a device as “more than” or “less than” a battery or a capacitor could be hampering progress in the field.
In a perspective…