Current generation ultracapacitors are Electric Double Layer Capacitors, or “EDLCs” using activated carbon for both electrodes and methyl cyanide in the electrolyte. EDLCs provide a limited value proposition in terms of energy density (4-6Wh/L), safety (flammable, toxic electrolyte), voltage scalability (2.5v unit cells, balancing electronics required), and cost ($30/Wh).

Asymmetric (Li-ion “LIC”) ultracapacitors essentially combine existing battery and capacitor technologies to address the energy density issue (15Wh/L), but do so at the expense of power (especially at low temperatures) and cycle life while doing nothing to improve safety or cost.

3-D Nanofilm™ ultracapacitor

Ionova’s 3-D Nanofilm™ ultracapacitor is being developed to address these weaknesses head-on. It allows low cost, safe and environmentally benign materials to be used in a new type of asymmetric ultracapacitor that will provide significantly increased energy density without sacrificing power or cycle life and is readily scalable to higher unit device voltages with vastly reduced dependence on balance electronics. This voltage scalability dramatically allows 3-D Nanofilm™ ultracapacitors to reduce the cost and complexity of large-scale systems and to enable entirely new applications that are otherwise impractical.