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Title: Capacitive charge storage at an electrified interface investigated via direct first-principles simulations [Direct Simulation of Capacitive Charging of Graphene and Implications for Supercapacitor Design]

Abstract

Understanding the impact of interfacial electric fields on electronic structure is crucial to improving the performance of materials in applications based on charged interfaces. Supercapacitors store energy directly in the strong interfacial field between a solid electrode and a liquid electrolyte; however, the complex interplay between the two is often poorly understood, particularly for emerging low-dimensional electrode materials that possess unconventional electronic structure. Typical descriptions tend to neglect the specific electrode-electrolyte interaction, approximating the intrinsic “quantum capacitance” of the electrode in terms of a fixed electronic density of states. Instead, we introduce a more accurate first-principles approach for directly simulating charge storage in model capacitors using the effective screening medium method, which implicitly accounts for the presence of the interfacial electric field. Applying this approach to graphene supercapacitor electrodes, we find that results differ significantly from the predictions of fixed-band models, leading to improved consistency with experimentally reported capacitive behavior. The differences are traced to two key factors: the inhomogeneous distribution of stored charge due to poor electronic screening and interfacial contributions from the specific interaction with the electrolyte. Lastly, our results are used to revise the conventional definition of quantum capacitance and to provide general strategies for improving electrochemicalmore » charge storage, particularly in graphene and similar low-dimensional materials.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [2]
  1. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
  2. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  3. National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba (Japan)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1325876
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1181178
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-659616
Journal ID: ISSN 1098-0121; PRBMDO
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC52-07NA27344; 12-ERD-035
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 91; Journal Issue: 12; Journal ID: ISSN 1098-0121
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; 77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY; 75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; 25 ENERGY STORAGE

Citation Formats

Radin, Maxwell D., Ogitsu, Tadashi, Biener, Juergen, Otani, Minoru, and Wood, Brandon C. Capacitive charge storage at an electrified interface investigated via direct first-principles simulations [Direct Simulation of Capacitive Charging of Graphene and Implications for Supercapacitor Design]. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.91.125415.
Radin, Maxwell D., Ogitsu, Tadashi, Biener, Juergen, Otani, Minoru, & Wood, Brandon C. Capacitive charge storage at an electrified interface investigated via direct first-principles simulations [Direct Simulation of Capacitive Charging of Graphene and Implications for Supercapacitor Design]. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.91.125415
Radin, Maxwell D., Ogitsu, Tadashi, Biener, Juergen, Otani, Minoru, and Wood, Brandon C. Wed . "Capacitive charge storage at an electrified interface investigated via direct first-principles simulations [Direct Simulation of Capacitive Charging of Graphene and Implications for Supercapacitor Design]". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.91.125415. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1325876.
@article{osti_1325876,
title = {Capacitive charge storage at an electrified interface investigated via direct first-principles simulations [Direct Simulation of Capacitive Charging of Graphene and Implications for Supercapacitor Design]},
author = {Radin, Maxwell D. and Ogitsu, Tadashi and Biener, Juergen and Otani, Minoru and Wood, Brandon C.},
abstractNote = {Understanding the impact of interfacial electric fields on electronic structure is crucial to improving the performance of materials in applications based on charged interfaces. Supercapacitors store energy directly in the strong interfacial field between a solid electrode and a liquid electrolyte; however, the complex interplay between the two is often poorly understood, particularly for emerging low-dimensional electrode materials that possess unconventional electronic structure. Typical descriptions tend to neglect the specific electrode-electrolyte interaction, approximating the intrinsic “quantum capacitance” of the electrode in terms of a fixed electronic density of states. Instead, we introduce a more accurate first-principles approach for directly simulating charge storage in model capacitors using the effective screening medium method, which implicitly accounts for the presence of the interfacial electric field. Applying this approach to graphene supercapacitor electrodes, we find that results differ significantly from the predictions of fixed-band models, leading to improved consistency with experimentally reported capacitive behavior. The differences are traced to two key factors: the inhomogeneous distribution of stored charge due to poor electronic screening and interfacial contributions from the specific interaction with the electrolyte. Lastly, our results are used to revise the conventional definition of quantum capacitance and to provide general strategies for improving electrochemical charge storage, particularly in graphene and similar low-dimensional materials.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevB.91.125415},
journal = {Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics},
number = 12,
volume = 91,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Mar 11 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Wed Mar 11 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}

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Cited by: 22 works
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Works referencing / citing this record:

Computational Insights into Materials and Interfaces for Capacitive Energy Storage
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Theoretical Study on the Quantum Capacitance Origin of Graphene Cathodes in Lithium Ion Capacitors
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