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Updated: Apr 15, 2026

Evaluating the Electrochemical Properties of Supercapacitors using the Three-Electrode System
Published on: January 7, 2022
All silicon electrode photocapacitor for integrated energy storage and conversion
Adam P Cohn1, William R Erwin1, Keith Share1
1†Department of Mechanical Engineering, ‡Interdisciplinary Materials Science Program, and §Department of Chemical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, United States.
Abstract:
We demonstrate a simple wafer-scale process by which an individual silicon wafer can be processed into a multifunctional platform where one side is adapted to replace platinum and enable triiodide reduction in a dye-sensitized solar cell and the other side provides on-board charge storage as an electrochemical supercapacitor. This builds upon electrochemical fabrication of dual-sided porous silicon and subsequent carbon surface passivation for silicon electrochemical stability. The utilization of this silicon multifunctional platform as a combined energy storage and conversion system yields a total device efficiency of 2.1%, where the high frequency discharge capability of the integrated supercapacitor gives promise for dynamic load-leveling operations to overcome current and voltage fluctuations during solar energy harvesting.
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