What Is an Ultracapacitor?
An ultracapacitor stands out as an energy storage device, offering vastly greater capacitance than traditional capacitors. It operates differently from batteries, storing charge via the electrical double layer at the electrode-electrolyte interface, not through chemical reactions.
Though often equated with supercapacitors, distinctions sometimes exist between the two, based on specific performance characteristics or technological differences.
Constructed with porous material electrodes, such as activated carbon, and an electrolyte, ultracapacitors charge by adsorbing ions onto the electrode surfaces under applied voltage. Their wide-ranging applications include automotive energy regeneration, backup power for industrial machinery, auxiliary power for domestic electronics, and energy recovery systems in railway transport.