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michka:research:supercapacitors [2014-07-01 14:29] – michka | michka:research:supercapacitors [2014-07-02 12:14] (current) – michka | ||
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====Home-Made Supercapacitors from Dead PC Batteries==== | ====Home-Made Supercapacitors from Dead PC Batteries==== | ||
+ | ===By Paul Granjon & MIchka Mélo=== | ||
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This page reports the wonderful citizen science R&D workshop we had at FoAM with my dear friend [[http:// | This page reports the wonderful citizen science R&D workshop we had at FoAM with my dear friend [[http:// | ||
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====Best design==== | ====Best design==== | ||
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Our best design was very simple. It was a sandwich design, which means that it was just a stack of dry material layers we taped all together. It contained three layers: | Our best design was very simple. It was a sandwich design, which means that it was just a stack of dry material layers we taped all together. It contained three layers: | ||
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===Step 1 - Find at least one dead computer battery=== | ===Step 1 - Find at least one dead computer battery=== | ||
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We ended up opening three of them: | We ended up opening three of them: | ||
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* One Toshiba battery | * One Toshiba battery | ||
* Another Toshiba battery, made of Panasonic round batteries | * Another Toshiba battery, made of Panasonic round batteries | ||
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To open them, use a hacksaw and/or a cutter, and make sure that you are not damaging the internal material. All three designs where made of more or less round rolls of: | To open them, use a hacksaw and/or a cutter, and make sure that you are not damaging the internal material. All three designs where made of more or less round rolls of: | ||
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* A copper layer | * A copper layer | ||
* Intercalated layers of graphene between each couple of these three. | * Intercalated layers of graphene between each couple of these three. | ||
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The Toshiba-non-Panasonic battery ended up being the easiest to manipulate. Graphene was easy to clean up from copper & insulating layers, whereas the Apple battery graphene was a nightmare to remove. Robert Murray Smith advises to let it dry for as long as possible before trying to remove it. Ease of manipulation varies with battery design & the kind of damage it overcame, which explains why you may want to start with several dead batteries to go through the process with the easiest to manipulate. | The Toshiba-non-Panasonic battery ended up being the easiest to manipulate. Graphene was easy to clean up from copper & insulating layers, whereas the Apple battery graphene was a nightmare to remove. Robert Murray Smith advises to let it dry for as long as possible before trying to remove it. Ease of manipulation varies with battery design & the kind of damage it overcame, which explains why you may want to start with several dead batteries to go through the process with the easiest to manipulate. | ||
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===Step 2 - Clean up the graphene from the copper layers & some insulating layers=== | ===Step 2 - Clean up the graphene from the copper layers & some insulating layers=== | ||
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Scrap with your nails or whatever soft tools which will not make holes in the plastic or copper layer. | Scrap with your nails or whatever soft tools which will not make holes in the plastic or copper layer. | ||
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====Other dry designs==== | ====Other dry designs==== | ||
- | Except for our sandwich designs, we also had some sushi designs - which are nothing else than wrapped sandwiches. We also made some waffle designs, which are square sushis - not cylindrical. | + | {{ : |
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+ | Except for our sandwich designs, we also had some sushi designs - which are nothing else than wrapped sandwiches. | ||
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+ | We also made some waffle designs, which are square sushis - not cylindrical. | ||
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We tried alsmost every possible combination out of the available materials from our dead batteries. Here are a few examples: | We tried alsmost every possible combination out of the available materials from our dead batteries. Here are a few examples: | ||
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Our wet designs were no success. | Our wet designs were no success. | ||
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A sushi dipped in sulfuric acid was severly attacked. Current kept on flowing, it was bubbling slightly, the solution started to become dark. It did hold voltage and quite a good charge, but after opening it up, we saw huge corrosion spots on the copper layer. | A sushi dipped in sulfuric acid was severly attacked. Current kept on flowing, it was bubbling slightly, the solution started to become dark. It did hold voltage and quite a good charge, but after opening it up, we saw huge corrosion spots on the copper layer. | ||
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- | Sushi dipped in salted water and demineralized water showed a strange charging behavior: current was slightly increasing, before being stable around 100 mA. They ended up not charging, or having a low and evanescent charge. | ||
Our sandwich with salted-water-wet paper had a similar charging behavior, and copper also ended up corroded. | Our sandwich with salted-water-wet paper had a similar charging behavior, and copper also ended up corroded. | ||
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Our sandwich with demineraliued-water-wet paper had a similar charging behavior, and a low and evanescent charge. | Our sandwich with demineraliued-water-wet paper had a similar charging behavior, and a low and evanescent charge. | ||
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+ | ====Things not to do==== | ||
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+ | **Do not try to absorb sulfuric acid with paper ! It produces a frightening hot bubbly black liquid !** | ||
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+ | ====Audio Lab Book==== | ||
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+ | A 22 minutes slideshow made of 60 photos & audio commentary containing more information is under export. I will post it on Youtube and here ASAP. | ||
====Conclusion & Future Research==== | ====Conclusion & Future Research==== |