Power Paper’ – Story Of A Paper That Can Store Electricity

From:  Green Optimist 

Power Paper, created by the researchers of Sweden’s Linköping University, is showing an outstanding ability in storing energy, which can later be used to recharge devices.

To meet the ever-increasing energy demands of our society, we need two kinds of devices – the first kind are the ones that can generate energy from renewable sources and the second are the ones that can store the generated energy as most of our renewable energy sources are not regular. They are either seasonal or directional and altogether, they are variable and intermittent. So, we need better energy storage devices to compensate for the intermittency of our renewable energy sources and realise the 100 percent renewable energy dream as soon as possible.

Scientists at the Organic Electronics Laboratory of Linköping University, Sweden, came up with an innovative solution by creating the so-called Power paper from nano-fibrillated cellulose and a conductive polymer. Unlike the regular capacitors and batteries, which require toxic materials and heavy metals, the power paper is made from renewable cellulose and readily available polymer.

 The cellulose fibers were subjected to high-pressure water to break them down into nanofibers as thin as 20nm in diameter and get the electrically charged polymer form a thin coating around the fibers. ”The covered fibres are in tangles, where the liquid in the spaces between them functions as an electrolyte,” explains Jesper Edberg, doctoral student, who conducted the experiments together with Abdellah Malti, who has recently completed his doctorate.  MORE