Fern-leaf Inspires Electrode for High Density Solar Energy Storage

A new electrode design, inspired by the fractal pattern of veins in a fern leaf, could boost the energy capacity of supercapacitors 30 times over.

Compared to conventional batteries, supercapacitors can be thinner, more durable and output power much faster, meaning they have the potential to eventually spawn thin, flexible power sources for wearable electronics or even cars. Storage capacity is their downside, but RMIT’s new electrode, with a higher energy density granted by its fractal pattern, is designed to address that very problem.

Their electrode is based on the fractal shapes – which are self-replicating, like the mini structures within snowflakes – and they have used this naturally-efficient design to improve solar energy storage at a nano level.

.The immediate application is combining this electrode with supercapacitors, as their experiments have shown their prototype can radically increase their storage capacity – 30 times more than current capacity limits. Capacity-boosted supercapacitors would offer both long-term reliability and quick-burst energy release – for when someone wants to use solar energy on a cloudy day for example – making them ideal alternatives for solar power storage…

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