Current collector design strategies: The route to realising scale-up of structural power composites

Multifunctional structural power composites, which combine mechanical load-bearing and electrochemical energy storage, will transform electric vehicle design. This work focuses on supercapacitors, based carbon aerogel-modified fibre electrodes with copper current collectors. In common many embodiments, scale-up of these devices is currently limited by large internal resistances the mass associated collection. There a trade-off between overall resistive loss additional for collector material. However, in devices, integrity provided electrodes, allowing range designs to be considered. Using finite element simulations, collection strategies are explored quantitatively across design space variables. The key conductivity parameters were measured experimentally, using best existing materials, inform direct conduction simulations electrode/current assembly. For present device configuration, performance governed area collector. most effective near-term strategy mitigation lies reducing contact resistance; however, improvements can also obtained modifying geometry. findings this paper generalised other composites monofunctional storage relevant mass-sensitive applications.