A scientific poster presenting the use of “Abaca-Cotton Fabric with Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes and Polyaniline-Polypyrrole Complex Layer” as a greener approach to energy storage won the top prize in the Scientific Posters category of the Rapid Fire Competition organized by the 40th Philippine-American Academy of Science and Engineering and APAMS 2020 Annual Scientific Meeting, results released on August 14, 2020 revealed.
The work by Graduate School student Celine Grace V. Causapin, along with Chemistry faculty researchers Felicidad Christina R. Ramirez, PhD and Christina A. Binag, PhD, focused on supercapacitors, “one of the most studied energy storage devices due to their high power density, fast charge-discharge rate, and long-term cycle stability.”
The study aimed to “fabricate and characterize a renewable supercapacitor electrode using abaca-cotton fabric (ACF) with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and polyaniline-polypyrrole complex layer (PAPY). The study also aimed to assemble symmetrical supercapacitor full cells using hybrid composites as electrodes.”
According to the researchers, “the physical characteristics of the composites were evaluated using four-point probe conductivity test and thermogravimetric analyses.” Furthermore, their study showed that the “the energy density (1.82 Wh/L) and power density (50.31 W/L) values of PAPY/MWCNT/ACF fall well within the supercapacitor range of the Ragone plot, making it an ideal supercapacitor electrode material.”
Ramirez and Binag are also faculty researchers of the Research Center for the Natural and Applied Sciences.
