Energy storing bricks for stationary PEDOT supercapacitors

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Chemical Engineering

Background:

• Fired bricks are a ubiquitous building material with a long history.
• Traditional applications of fired bricks are limited, primarily serving structural purposes.
• The inherent properties of fired bricks, such as porosity and composition, have not been fully exploited for advanced applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a cost-effective and scalable chemical synthesis method for creating electrochemical devices using fired bricks.
• To investigate the potential of fired bricks as a substrate for conductive polymer deposition.
• To engineer stationary supercapacitors with enhanced performance and durability.

Main Methods:

• Utilized fired bricks as a substrate for controlled oxidative radical polymerization.
• Deposited nanofibrillar coatings of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) onto the brick microstructure.
• Integrated the PEDOT-coated bricks into electrochemical supercapacitor modules.
• Employed a five-minute epoxy for waterproof casing and a gel electrolyte for improved cycling stability.

Main Results:

• Successfully synthesized PEDOT-coated electrodes on fired brick substrates.
• Developed functional stationary supercapacitors capable of being stacked into modules.
• Demonstrated underwater operability of the supercapacitors using epoxy encapsulation.
• Achieved 10,000 cycles with approximately 90% capacitance retention using a gel electrolyte.

Conclusions:

• Fired bricks can be repurposed as a versatile and inexpensive substrate for advanced electrochemical applications.
• The developed method offers a scalable and cost-effective approach to creating energy storage devices.
• The resulting supercapacitors exhibit robust performance, including underwater operation and long-term cycling stability.