Kitchen sponge supercapacitor has many porous benefits

By dipping small pieces of an ordinary kitchen sponge into solutions of nanoscale electrode materials, scientists have created a light-weight, low-cost supercapacitor that benefits from the sponge's porous structure. The pores provide a large surface area for the electrode materials to attach to, leading to an increase in ion movement between the electrodes and the electrolyte that fills in the pores. Overall, the new supercapacitor exhibits a performance that is superior to that of one made of the same electrode materials but without the sponge.

The researchers, led by Jun Ma at the University of South Australia, have published their paper on the kitchen sponge supercapacitors in a recent issue of Nanotechnology.