Nanocarbon for supercapacitors

In addition to mechanical reinforcement, the presence of nanocarbons in these hierarchical composites can also be used for piezoresistive structural health monitoring or damage evaluation by thermal imaging. Other functions of the nanocarbon, for example in structural supercapacitors, are likely to emerge in the near future. 

Nanocarbons are the most widely used material for supercapacitor electrodes because, among other characteristics, they are cheap, chemically inert, electrically conductive, and their nanoporous texture and surface fimctionality are highly versatile. 

The electrochemical processes detailed here often require the nanocarbons to be deposited onto an electrode, which is advantageous for applications such as supercapacitors and batteries but detrimental for applications where nanocarbons in powder form are required e.g. heterogenous catalysis. 

In summary, the high versatility of nanocarbons in terms of texture and surface functionality allows to perfectly adapt them to the different mechanisms depending on the electrolyte. Such versatility still offers high potentialities for developing high-performance supercapacitors. 

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