HEDASupercap

Project summary

Supercapacitors are considered important energy storage devices that can complement batteries for various applications. While currently the electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) still dominate the market, their low energy density cannot satisfy the ever-increasing demand. The HEDAsupercap project aims at developing high energy density asymmetric hybrid supercapacitors consisting of two dissimilar EDLC-type and battery-type electrodes. The improvement of energy density will be accomplished through the asymmetric cell design and developing novel materials and components, including electrode materials, ionic liquid electrolytes and current collectors. Sustainable, environmentally-friendly, and cost-effective synthetic approaches will be employed to ensure the elimination of critical raw materials (CRMs) usage and the minimisation of environmental impact during the components production. Supercapacitor cells and modules comprised of newly developed compoents, along with innovative management system, will be developed and demonstrated in electric scooters for last-mile mobility as well as in hand warming gloves for sport & leisure. Comprehensive techno-economic and value chain analyses will be carried out, and a business case and exploitation strategy will be developed by the end of the project to roadmap future commercialisation of the HEDAsupercap technology. The HEDAsupercap consortium, led by International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), comprises three research & technology organisations, two universities, and three leading companies in the automotive, energy and engineering sectors. This will allow the developed technology to be quickly taken up and adopted in the market. The HEDAsupercap project will promote widespread deployment of high energy density hybrid supercapacitors in mobility and consumer goods sectors. The project results will be disseminated to different stakeholders, raising their awareness of the latest development of this new technology.

Our role

Gemmate brings its team’s expertise in modelling, design, and assessment methods along the entire project value chain. Firstly, Gemmate applies a multiscale modelling approach ranging from the materials design at molecular scale up to the prediction of cell/module performance for envisioning their application in a real-world scenario. Since the demonstration activities of HEDAsupercap focuses on the usage of supercaps in applications like e-mobility and wearable electronics, Gemmate defines the functional features and the specifications of the products identified as use cases, and contributes to designing their storage systems. Finally, the achievements of the last-mile mobility demonstration use cases are used to predict, by a conscious analysis of the enabling technology under development, their evolutionary perspectives to roadmap the possibility of integrating supercapacitor modules with the Li-ion battery pack for vehicle traction and fast charging.

Gemmate has a leading role in the environmental and economic sustainability assessment of the HEDASupercap technology. In particular, the environmental assessment is performed throughout the project, starting early with a streamlined approach, useful for initial hot-spotting and testing conclusions that guide the decision-making during the experimental phase, before embarking upon a detailed study.