Grant: Strategic Projects - Group

Safe and secure power sources are important to Canada's economic and social welfare. Energy storage is also an important component of an effective and efficient power grid, enabling compensation for variations in load and interruptions in power, as well as effectively integrating distributed power sources including wind, solar and other generators.  We propose to develop supercapacitor technologies that combine high power and energy per unit mass, enabling them to compensate for variations in frequency, phase and voltage, and to store energy for use in peak periods and during service interruptions.  Our approach is to investigate new and promising electrodes that feature a high degree of porosity and good voltage stability, along with  good cycle life and high charge/discharge efficiency.  This combination will create a technology that promises to replace batteries in many applications (power, transport, portable energy) while also enabling very fast response that batteries cannot offer. Our team is composed of engineers, chemists and physicists who are synthesizing and processing the electrode materials and capacitors, studying their properties and creating devices.  Epod industries, a Canadian power management firm, is also a team member, contributing industrial expertise and  providing a potential pathway to commercialization of the technology.