Lithium-ion supercapacitors (also known as lithium-ion hybrid capacitors or lithium-ion batteries with supercapacitor behaviour) are a type of energy storage device that combines the characteristics of both lithium-ion batteries and supercapacitors. They are designed to have a high energy density like lithium-ion batteries and a high-power density like supercapacitors.
One of the main advantages of lithium-ion supercapacitors is their ability to charge and discharge quickly. Unlike traditional lithium-ion batteries, which can take several hours to charge, lithium-ion supercapacitors can be charged in a matter of minutes. This makes them particularly useful for applications that require rapid charging and discharging, such as portable electronic devices.
In addition to their fast charging and discharging capabilities, lithium-ion supercapacitors also have a longer lifespan than traditional lithium-ion batteries. This is because they do not suffer from the same degradation of performance over time, which is a common issue with lithium-ion batteries.
There are a few different types of lithium-ion supercapacitors, including those that use lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) as the cathode material and lithium iron phosphate (LFP) as the anode material, and those that use lithium manganese oxide (LMO) as the cathode material and graphite as the anode material.
Despite their many advantages, lithium-ion supercapacitors are not yet widely used. This is largely due to the fact that they are still relatively expensive to produce, and there is still a lot of research and development needed to improve their performance and make them more practical for use in a wide range of applications. However, as technology continues to advance and the demand for high-performance energy storage devices increases, it is likely that lithium-ion supercapacitors will become more common in the future.