Electrical energy storage holds the key to wider adoption of renewable energy. Electrical double layer capacitors (or supercapacitors) and Li-ion batteries are two complementary technologies for storing electrical energy, both involving an interface between the electrolyte and the graphitic carbon. Supercapacitors store energy as the charge on the high surface area of a porous graphitic carbon. Using a classical density functional theory, we show that the surface-area-normalized capacitance in fact oscillates with the pore size due to the interference of electrical double layers. This novel and interesting behavior from prediction now calls for experimental confirmation. The functioning of Li-ion batteries is enabled by the formation of a solid-electrolyte interphase at the graphite anode. Using first principles molecular dynamics, we examine the initial chemical reactions between the electrolyte and the lithiated graphite edge surface and find that the LiF species plays an important role at the interface.

Graphene/electrolyte interface in electrochemical energy storage: From supercapacitors to Li-ion batteries

244th National Meeting (2012)

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