The consumer electronics industry has changed drastically in the past few years. Portable devices are increasingly becoming multifunctional, and this is driving the change in energy storage landscape, translating into frequent peak power demands from batteries.
Lithium batteries have become the dominant technology in the secondary battery space for small devices because of their superior energy density characteristics.
However, the capacity of lithium batteries (energy content) is reduced if we extract the energy quickly. This means that if we require high power from the battery we will extract less total energy than if we would require low power.
Hence, lithium battery technology capabilities are being challenged by the modern multifunctional portable devices, making room for alternative energy storage technologies.
This is the case with supercapacitors, an emerging energy storage technology, whose characteristics make them strong candidates for satisfying those functions where lithium batteries underperform.
Supercapacitors can deliver a considerable amount of energy at high power, making them suitable for supplying high power in multifunctional devices where current batteries can’t provide it without reducing their total energy capacity.
As smart and portable electronic devices is one of the highest growth industries in the world, energy storage solutions that power these devices will be key in the development of this industry.
