We report a simple yet versatile method to simultaneously achieve the exfoliation and reduction of graphite oxide. By treating graphite oxide powders in a commercial microwave oven, reduced graphite oxide materials could be readily obtained within 1 min. Extensive characterizations showed that the as-prepared materials consisted of crumpled, few-layer thick and electronically conductive graphit...

New types of energy storage are required in conjunction with the deployment of renewable energy sources and their integration with the electrical grid. A new kind of energy storage technology is needed for short-term grid storage applications, as existing technology struggle to meet the needs of these applications at a reasonable price. We previously introduced a new family of cathode materials...

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are gaining increasing interest for both residential and commercial transportation applications. In PHEV design, energy storage system (EES) is a critical component which will impact the overall design efficiency, performance, cost and etc. This dissertation aims to design an advanced energy storage system for a small plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, who...

Electrical double layer capacitors (supercapacitors) were fabricated using activated carbon as the active material and polyvinylidine fluoride (PVDF) as a binder with a suitable conductive additive (MWCNTs) together in an optimized ratio. The supercapacitor cells were assembled using an aqueous solution of 0.5M Na2SO4 as the electrolyte. These cells had an average capacitance of 1.7F each as me...