Activated carbon/conducting polymer hybrid supercapacitors

This paper presents the work carried out within a European Union (EU) project which led to the development of 3 V and 1.5 kF preseries supercapacitor modules and 2 kW stacks based on hybrid cells with poly(3-methylthiophene) as positive electrode and activated carbon as the negative electrode with propylene carbonate-tetraethylammonium tetrafluoroborate electrolyte. These prototypes, which display a concept of hybrid cell operating with a high-surface-area activated carbon and a conventional electronically conducting polymer, both commercially available, and with a nontoxic and nonvolatile electrolyte, provide a successful response to the market demand for high power and energy supercapacitors operating with an environmentally friendly electrolyte. (C) 2003 The Electrochemical Society.