Meso-nano and micro-nano ion transport in porous carbon composite electrodes for energy storage applications

Abstract

In energy storage devices carbonaceous composite electrodes are a popular choice, consisting of activated carbon (ac), conductive additives and a polymeric binder matrix. The active electrode components are in the form of ac particles, ac fibres, or ac monolith combined with conductive additives such as carbon black. Activated carbon plays the most important role for storing a large amount of energy in the form of ions contained in the carbon nanopores. This study considers a modelling approach to the meso-nano and micro-nano infiltration of ions into the porous carbon structure during the operation of the energy storage device. Depending on the pore size, ion size and solvent molecule size, ions may be solvated or unsolvated as they move, where ions are solvated in meso-pores for most cases. Molecular model simulations have been performed to determine the values of the geometrical parameters of different ions, solvated and unsolvated in various solvents. A meso-nano and micro-nano ion infiltration model has been developed in this study under both steady state and dynamic conditions