SUPERCAPACITORS: OLD PROBLEMS AND NEW TRENDS

Supercapacitors (SC) attract much attention as a good alternative or supplement to batteries. Over the past decade a considerable breakthrough took place in our understanding of how the supercapacitors function [1-3]. Though they are inherently behind the batteries by the specific energy stored, they are way ahead of them by their peak output power, efficiency and cycling life. As a result they can be used as pulse power sources, for load leveling the batteries, in hybrid power supply units (e.g., being combined with a fuel cell), etc. This paper is an attempt to analyze what are the prospects for SC to occupy their niche in the market of energy storage devices, what performance can be anticipated in near future, and how this performance might be achieved with the special emphasis on the SC power output and its dependence on the electrode properties.