International Journal of Computer Science and Electronics Engineering (IJCSEE) Volume 3, Issue 3 (2015) ISSN 2320–4028 (Online)

Review of Super capacitor Technology

Abdeladim Moftah, and Ashraf Al Shetiti

 commercialization problems Standard Company licensed their

Abstract—Supercapacitors are basically identical to ordinary invention to another company called NEC, who named their
capacitors in terms of principle of operation but supercapacitors are product as “supercapacitor” and succeeded to sell this product
advanced electric energy devices with much higher capacitance in to be used as a backup power to maintain computer memory.
relative small packages. Both of them consist of two electrodes The Gold Capacitor was created by Panasonic Company in
(plates) separated by a dielectric but supercapacitors utilize thinner 1978 and in 1987, a company known as ELNA had made the
dielectric and higher surface area electrodes which allow higher
Dynacap. All above three types were suitable for low power
energy density. Supercapacitors are used in a wide range of
applications from low to high power applications. The paper presents applications. The Pinnacle Research Institute (PRI) had
a concise review on supercapacitors including, concept, applications, developed the first high power EDLCs to be used in military
characteristics, advantage and limitations. applications since 1982. Maxwell Company has been
developed the EDLCs but known as Ultracapacitors to be used
Keywords— Applications, Concept, Characterization, History, in electric vehicles [1].
Supercapacitors
III. CONCEPT OF SUPERCAPACITORS
I. INTRODUCTION Based on the charge accumulation process, a supercapacitor

S UPERCAPACITORS are electrochemical energy storage

devices that can be either charged or discharged by
connecting or disconnecting a DC power source
is mainly divided into dual-layer capacitor and
pseudocapacitor. The dual-layer capacitor is a capacitive-type
(non-Faradic) supercapacitor because when it is charged; there
respectively. They play a vital role in a wide range of will be a combination of positive and negative charges at each
industrial applications. Supercapacitors are generally known as electrode. The combinations are separated by the electrolyte as
Electrochemical Double-Layer Capacitors (EDLCs), illustrated in Fig. 1. In case of pseudocapacitor, the chemical
Electrochemical Capacitors, or Ultracapacitors. reactions are occurred within the active materials of the
Supercapacitors have very high capacitance in a range of few electrodes according to Faraday’s laws. Consequently, the
up to thousands Farads. Compared with existing battery amount of the stored charge is related to the type of the active
technologies, supercapacitors have higher power density, materials and the potential of the electrodes [2].
virtual unlimited cycle life and higher charge/discharge
efficiency. However, the main disadvantage of supercapacitors
is that their energy density is lower than batteries.
Supercapacitors can be connected with batteries forming
efficient power sources. As a result, cycle life and performance
of battery can be improved because supercapacitor can be
charged from battery at very low current. The charged
supercapacitor can provide very high current (starting current)
to start up electrical motors.
This paper focuses on a brief review on supercapacitors in
terms of concepts, characterization, history and applications. Fig.1 Schematic diagrams of a capacitor showing the charged (left)
and discharged (right) states [3]
II. HISTORY OF SUPERCAPACITORS
A. Cell Construction
In 1960s, the Standard Oil Company, Cleveland, Ohio
(SOHIO) invented a first cell comprising two layers are made Supercapacitor is the same as conventional capacitor;
from activated charcoal separated by a thin porous insulator. however, the former differs from the conventional capacitor in
This technology became the basic concept for the present electrodes material which is based on carbon technology as
double-layer capacitors. However, in 1971, due to illustrated in Fig. 2. It consists of two electrodes immersed in
electrolyte and separated by separator as shown in Fig. 3.

Abdeladim Moftah is with the Higher Institute for Comprehensive

Professions- Gamins, Libya (phone: 00218928028674; e-mail:
abdotop_1@yahoo.com).
Ashraf Al Shetiti is with the Higher Institute for Comprehensive
Professions- Gamins, Libya (phone: 00218912204276; e-mail:
shitiashrafi@gmail.com).

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into the activated carbon so that positively charged ions will be

attracted to the negative electrode and the negatively charged
ions are attracted to the positive electrode. The accumulation
of the ions on both electrodes will form double layers inside
activated carbon pores. The diameter of the ions and the size
of activated carbon pores determine the double layer
phenomena and hence the capacitance. Because the activated
carbon is extremely pores material therefore, a very large
number of ions can be absorbed into the electrodes of the
capacitor resulting in high capacitance.
Two types of electrolyte are used; aqueous and non-aqueous
Fig.2 Supercapacitor cell electrolyte (organic) which can classify the supercapacitor as
following:
 Aqueous electrolyte: Aqueous electrolyte based on
sulphuric acid or potassium hydroxide. Their ions
diameter is relatively small which allows higher ions
absorption by the activated carbon pores and therefore,
lower internal resistance. This leads in limiting the
insulating ability of the electrolyte which on the other
hand limits the cell voltage. Typical cell voltage is 1.23 V
[6].
 Organic electrolyte: Non-aqueous electrolyte is
quaternary salts dissolved in organic solvent. Unlike the
aqueous electrolyte, organic ions have bigger diameter
which limit the ions penetration or absorption into the
activated carbon pores. The internal resistance of organic
electrolyte is bit high compared to the aqueous electrolyte
Fig.3 Electric double-layer capacitor internal resistance resulting in providing high voltage
B. Electrode range of 3 to 3.5 V [4]. The type of the electrolyte used in
The electrodes are made of conductive metal current supercapacitor may associate in determining the energy
collector quoted by activated carbon rough powder providing density and power density of supercapacitor due to the
large specific surface area and small distance of about 10 role of the cell voltage range and the internal resistance.
Armstrong as shown in Fig. 4. The carbon powder is As stated, the aqueous electrolyte has lower voltage range
pressurized to increase conductivity and decrease the contact than the organic electrolyte. Equation (1) illustrates that
resistance between the powder and the metal collector. Since the cell voltage determines the stored energy [7].
the capacitance of any capacitor is proportional to the area and
inversely proportional to the distance, the carbon powder
provides an electrodes area up to 3000 m2 per gram and hence Where, "W" is the energy, "C" is the capacitance and " Uo
maximizing the number of electrolyte ions absorbed and so is " is the cell voltage.
the capacitance which increases linearly up to 250 F/g [4]
In contrast, organic electrolyte has higher internal resistance
than aqueous electrolyte by factor of four as shown in (2) [7].

Where, "P" is the power and "ESR" is the internal

resistance.

It can be seen from (1) and (2) that aqueous electrolyte

has lower energy density than the organic electrolyte due to its
low voltage, but on the hand has higher power density than the
organic electrolyte due to its low internal resistance.
Fig.4 The structure of activated carbon [5] D. Separator
C. Electrolyte A separator is a barrier used as spacer between the
Supercapacitor electrolyte is a chemical liquid that electrodes to prevent electrodes short circuit. It blocks any
containing ions or source of ions (charges). When applying electronic contact (short circuit) in the cell, but on the other
voltage to the electrodes the electrical potential draws the ions hand, it allows ionic transfer between electrodes. The separator

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comes in a form of polymer, in case of organic electrolyte is

used, and glass fiber or ceramic in case of aqueous electrolyte
[6].
Where, " CTotal" is the overall capacitance of the module
IV. CHARACTERISTICS OF SUPERCAPACITORS and "n" is the number of capacitors connected in series.
The supercapacitor has a series of characteristics that In other hands, a number of supercapacitors can be arranged
influence and determine its performance. These factors are the together so that achieving specific requirements in terms of the
capacitance, rated voltage, power and energy densities and capacitance, voltage, current, energy density and power
finally its charge and discharge behaviors over the time. density. Consequently, there are three arrangement methods
such as series, parallel or a combination of them.
A. Supercapacitor Capacitance Commercially, the rated voltage is on the order of 2.5 to 2.7 V
Due to its large surface area of the electrodes and to the while the capacitance reaches few thousands Farads. Due to
very small distance, supercapacitors have a very large they have low voltage level, supercapacitors need to be
capacitance reaching thousands of Farads compared to the connected in series so that obtaining the required voltage
conventional capacitor which its capacitances ranges from 1 levels, reaching few hundred of volts. However, the total
μF up to 1 F. The capacitance is determined from (3) [5]. capacitance and stored energy reduce. The main disadvantage
of this arrangement is that the total voltage over the whole
series string of the supercapacitors may be not symmetrically
shared between the individual supercapacitors based on the
Where, “ɛ" is the dielectric constant, "A" is the geometric variations between their parameters. If the terminal voltage of
area and "d" is the distance between the formed layers. any supercapacitor increases more than its rated voltage, this
Considering (3), if the area is in the range of thousands of supercapacitor may be damaged. The solution of this problem
square meters and distance of the range of nano-meters, the is to equalize the total voltage between the different
capacitance, according to the equation, will be in the range of supercapacitors by using high efficiency power electronics [9].
the thousands of Farads. In order to increase the capacitance as well as the energy
The capacitance is also determined by (4), as the and power densities, the supercapacitors need to be connected
capacitance can be defined as the ratio of the stored charge to in parallel. In addition, the total current which can be
the applied voltage [8]. delivered increases corresponding to the number of
supercapacitors and vice versa. However, this current may be
equally shared or not between the supercapacitors depending
B. Supercapacitor Rated Voltage upon percentage of the difference between their parameters.
From the previous two methods, not all requirements are
In general supercapacitor has lower rated voltage
achieved because when the total voltage needs to be increased,
(1.23 to 3.5 V) due to the limit of breakdown potential of the
the capacitance cannot be and vice versa. By connecting the
electrolyte, however; the supercapacitor cells can be connected
supercapacitors in series-parallel arrangement, the required
in series to form a module to meet desired high voltage. Fig. 5
capacitance and total voltage can be achieved but this
shows the inside connection of supercapacitor module.
arrangement needs an equalization circuit to be added.
C. Supercapacitor Internal Resistance
The internal resistance of supercapacitor is represented
by equivalent series resistance (ESR) and equivalent parallel
resistances (EPR) are as follows:
 Equivalent series resistance (ESR)
The internal resistance of supercapacitor is the sum of its
components resistivity such as electrodes, electrolyte and any
external circuit involved such is wire resistance as well as the
ion size that absorbed by pores. It is known as equivalent
series resistance (ESR). It determines the voltage during the
discharge and the amount of power that can be delivered by
Fig.5 Schematic module of supercapacitor [4] supercapacitor, the lower the ESR the higher power. This leads
to the fact that supercapacitor efficiency is a function of these
Although this arrangement would provide a rated voltage to series resistances.
meet a certain required voltage, it affects the total capacitance
of the module as the capacitance of a number of capacitor  Equivalent parallel resistance (EPR)
connected in series will reduce the total capacitance of the Supercapacitor storage performance decays over the time as
module and hence the stored charge. Equation (5) illustrates it has a short–term energy performance. This is due to leakage
the reduction in over whole capacitance. current or self-discharge. This leakage current is modeled as
parallel resistor connected in parallel with the supercapacitor.

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It is called the Equivalent parallel resistance (EPR). It F. Charging/Discharging Supercapacitor

increases proportionally with temperature. Consequently, as Supercapacitor is the same as the conventional capacitor
the EPR increases the leakage decreases resulting an increase and unlike the battery when it comes to charge and discharge
in long-term energy [10]. behaviors. It charges rapidly and exponentially and discharges
D. Temperature in the same minor of charging over a short time [5]. The
charging time is only limited by RC circuit. As the
The supercapacitor performance remains unaffected over a
supercapacitor is made of a number of series RC circuits,
wide range of temperature. Unlike lead acid battery, there is no
therefore, the charging time is depends on the value of RC
chemical reaction taking place in charge and discharge process
circuit. Moreover, and unlike the batteries the charging and
which give the supercapacitor a lead of the lead acid battery.
discharging cycle is considered unlimited as no chemical
The supercapacitor is able to operate without affect within
reaction taking place though out the process. Table I illustrates
temperature range of +70 Co down to -20 Co. However, the
the difference between such storage devices over charging and
conductivity of the organic electrolyte will be affected and
discharging time, cycle life and efficiency of charge and
hence limiting the performance of the supercapacitor [11].
discharge.
E. Supercapacitor Energy and Power Densities
Energy and power densities are factors that shared between V. APPLICATIONS OF SUPERCAPACITORS
batteries, conventional capacitor and supercapacitor. In case of Supercapacitor found its way into many of industrial aspects
the batteries, the ability of storing energy is very high but the from power systems to standby and automotive systems both
speed of delivering that energy is very poor, in other words, fossil and electric vehicles. It is also used in
batteries have high energy density but low power density. telecommunications and digital cameras. The following is a
However, in case of conventional capacitor, the capability of brief description of supercapacitor used in some applications:
delivering power is very high but the ability of storing energy  Transmission lines: Due to variation in power demand a
is very poor. This gap between the batteries and conventional storage devices become necessary. As matter of fact,
capacitor energy and power densities are filled in by storage device is the heart of FACTs devices the
supercapacitor. Fig. 6 shows the gap in energy and power supercapacitor is used in these FACTs devices to improve
densities between the batteries and convectional capacitor and power transfer and enhance power quality and provide
how the supercapacitor has achieved a sort of balancing in stability in voltage and frequency [4].
between the batteries and conventional capacitor. The
 UPS: In this application, the supercapacitor is combined
properties of the different energy storage devices are
with the storage batteries to provide power over short
illustrated in Table I.
period of interruption so that the batteries are only
delivering their energy over long period of interruption
which, consequently, extend the batteries life.
 Telecommunications: The need for fast response backup
systems during the lack of the main power source in this
field is a very important issue to get high reliable
operation and avoid interruption of the communication
system. This require a sort of backup batteries, UPS or
other sorts of what it is called Hot Standby System,
however, this system have an issue of power consumption
which means high cost. However, supercapacitor can act
very fast as cold standby unit and dissipate almost no
energy.
Fig. 6 Comparison between three storage technologies according  Cold starting of diesel fuelled engine: Diesel fuelled
to energy and power densities [12]
engines are quite hard to start up in cold weather where
TABLE I the lubrication oil temperature drops below 0 degree
CHARACTERISTICS OF LEAD ACID BATTERY, CAPACITOR AND making an increase in the viscous friction which requires
SUPERCAPACITOR [13] high cranking torque to start the engine. This cranking
Battery Capacitor
Super- torque requires high current from the lead acid battery
Capacitor which also affects by the cold weather as its internal
Energy density (kJ/kg) 100-360 0.360 30 resistance increases as the temperature drops, which
6
limited the discharge current and hence reduce the ability
Power density (W/kg) 100-200 10 104
of sustaining the cranking current during engine start. This
Charge cycles (1) 104 1010 106 issue is overcome by using a bank of supercapacitor as it
Life expectancy (Years) 5 30 30 does not get affected by low temperature, so that the
cranking current surge is provided by the supercapacitor.
Efficiency (%) 70-85 >95 85-98

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 Hybrid electric vehicle: The hybrid electric vehicle VII. CONCLUSION

operation involves transient power demand due to Although, the advantages of supercapacitors are more than
acceleration and deceleration which require storage their drawbacks, they are used in numerous electrical industrial
devices with high power density along with high energy applications such as FACTS devices, UPSs, Submarines,
density. As the hybrid electric vehicle driven by bank of Mobile phones, Computers, Transportation, etc. However,
batteries, which they are known with low power density supercapacitors need to be indirectly connected to additional
and high energy density, the battery life will be affected, energy storage devices such as batteries, forming Battery-
however, by combining the supercapacitor with battery, Supercapacitor Power Source. In other hands, a switching
the transient current will be supplied by the supercapacitor mode converter may be used to switch between
resulting in battery life being extended [4]. supercapacitors modules and batteries in order to isolate
batteries from high discharge currents. Therefore, the
VI. ADVANTAGES AND LIMITATIONS OF SUPERCAPACITORS performance of batteries can be improved.
The advantages are as follows:
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
1. Unlike batteries, supercapacitors have virtually unlimited
It is possible to thank Mr. Mohamed A. Mahmudi, for his
cycle life because they can be deep cycled up to a wide continual encouragement and help. Furthermore, special
range of times, reaching thousands (about 500000 times) thanks to the Higher Institute for Comprehensive Professions –
[14]. Gamins and the Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific
2. Due to their low impedance compared to batteries, Research for financial support.
supercapacitors have ability to enhance high pluses of
energy without lifetime deterioration. Furthermore, within REFERENCES
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Abdeladim Moftah (Formerly, Abdeladim Gazwi) was born in Egypt on

1975. In 2010, he received MSc degree in Electrical
Engineering from Staffordshire University, UK. In
1999, he received BSc degree in Electrical and
Electronics Engineering from Benghazi University,
Benghazi, Libya. From 2001 to 2012, he was working
as instrumentation and control engineer at Raslanuf
Processing Oil and Gas Company (RASCO), Libya. In
May, 2012 he was a lecturer and manager of the office
of Technical and Scientific Affairs at The Higher
Institute for Comprehensive Professions- Gamins, Libya. And now, he is the
chairman of the institute.
Mr. Moftah is a membership of ISAET Organization. In 2011 - 2014
papers have been published, Modeling of Supercapacitor Modules and
Parameters Extraction (46th UPEC Conf., 2011), and Application of
Supercapacitors to Automotive Application (2nd ISAET Conf., 2013) in
addition to that and Battery/Supercapacitor Combinations for Supplying
Vehicle Electrical and Electronic Loads (3rd ICIIE conf., 2014). Best
presentation certificate has been awarded during the last conference.

Ashraf Al Shetiti was born in Libya on 1968. In 1993, he received MSc

degree in Engineering from The Caspian Higher Naval Red College (S. N.
Kirov), Russia.
In May, 2013 he was a lecturer and manager of the office of Technical and
Scientific Affairs at The Higher Institute for Comprehensive Professions-
Gamins, Libya.

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