Scientists Discover Key to Safer Energy Storage Devices

Researchers uncover critical changes in the thermal properties of energy storage devices during operation, paving the way towards better thermal management.Modern energy storage devices, such as supercapacitors and batteries, have highly temperature-dependent performance. If a device gets too hot, it becomes susceptible to ‘thermal runaway.’ Thermal runaway—or uncontrolled overheating—can ultimately result in dangerous explosions or fires. Adopting a well-informed thermal management strategy is required for the stable and safe operation of devices. To do this, it is necessary to understand how certain thermal properties, like heat capacity (Cp), dynamically change during charging and discharging.Recently, researchers from the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) investigated the thermal properties of electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs)—a type of…

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