Search arXiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 1811.09097

Charge storage in nanoporous carbons: The molecular origin of supercapacitance

Céline Merlet·Clarisse Péan·Mathieu Salanne·Benjamin Rotenberg
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Supercapacitors are electric devices able to deliver a large power, enabling their use e.g. for the recovery of breaking energy in cars. This is achieved by using two carbon electrodes and an electrolyte solution or a pure ionic liquid (Room Temperature Ionic Liquid, RTIL). Energy is stored by the adsorption of ions at the surface of the electrodes, but the microscopic mechanism underlying the exceptional performance of Carbide Derived Carbon (CDC) electrodes remained unknown. Using molecular simulation with realistic electrode structures and under constant voltage conditions, we investigate the effect of confinement and solvation on the microscopic charging mechanism. We further analyse the dynamics of the charging process and make the link with equivalent circuit models used by electrochemists.

Explore related subjects

physics.chem-ph

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Céline Merlet, Clarisse Péan, Mathieu Salanne, Benjamin Rotenberg. 2018-11-22. Charge storage in nanoporous carbons: The molecular origin of supercapacitance. https://arxiv.org/abs/1811.09097

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Intrinsic Matching Frustration in Fluctuating Finite Systems

We formulate intrinsic matching frustration (IMF), a fluctuation-induced, kinetics-independent reduction in the mean capacity permitted by a prescribed matching rule. For complementary one-to-one matching, the instantaneous capacity is set by the minority population, so fluctuations produce a nonzero mean deficit even when the two populations are balanced on average. At finite size, this deficit depends on the full distribution of the population difference and is determined by its variance alone only in the Gaussian limit. Compartmentalization hides matching capacity by preventing cancellation between local imbalances of opposite sign. Fusion releases this hidden capacity monotonically under coarse graining, producing a measurable recovery of product yield following local reaction to completion.

physics.chem-ph↗
arXiv2026

Phonon chirality as an additive control of CISS: a symmetry-protected law

Chirality-induced spin selectivity (CISS) is usually associated with molecular handedness. The possible contribution of chiral phonons is less established. We study a helical tight-binding model in which local phonon angular momentum modulates spin-dependent nearest-neighbor hopping. Fewest-switches surface hopping calculations give the transmitted spin polarization $\mathrm{SP}=aC+b\mathrm{PH}$. Here $C$ is the molecular chirality and $\mathrm{PH}$ is the phonon chirality. A mirror symmetry reverses $C$, $\mathrm{PH}$, and $\mathrm{SP}$ simultaneously. This symmetry excludes both a chirality-independent offset and a $C\cdot\mathrm{PH}$ term. The phonon contribution can therefore enhance, cancel, or reverse the molecular CISS signal.

physics.chem-ph↗
arXiv2026

A fast physics-based matrix model for the impedance of a PEM fuel cell: Incorporating functionally graded catalyst layer and channel impedances

We extend a recent physics-based matrix model for calculating PEM fuel cell impedance (doi:10.1149/2754-2734/ad6ce8) to cases of low air flow stoichiometry and functionally graded cathode catalyst layers (CCLs). We demonstrate that the matrix model produces accurate spectra and is almost three orders of magnitude faster than a model based on the standard boundary-value problem solver. The physics-based matrix model can compete with equivalent circuit models for fitting experimental EIS spectra, particularly those measured from cells with functionally graded CCL.

physics.chem-ph↗