Representative embodiments provide a liquid or gel separator utilized to separate and space apart first and second conductors or electrodes of an energy storage device, such as a battery or a supercapacitor. A representative liquid or gel separator comprises a plurality of particles, typically having a size (in any dimension) between about 0.5 to about 50 microns; a first, ionic liquid electrolyte; and a polymer. In another representative embodiment, the plurality of particles comprise diatoms, diatomaceous frustules, and/or diatomaceous fragments or remains. Another representative embodiment further comprises a second electrolyte different from the first electrolyte; the plurality of particles are comprised of silicate glass; the first and second electrolytes comprise zinc tetrafluoroborate salt in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidalzolium tetrafluoroborate ionic liquid; and the polymer comprises polyvinyl alcohol (“PVA”) or polyvinylidene fluoride (“PVFD”). Additional components, such as additional electrolytes and solvents, may also be included.

Systems and methods for supplying power (both active and reactive) at a medium voltage from a DCSTATCOM to an IT load without using a transformer are disclosed. The DCSTATCOM includes an energy storage device, a two-stage DC-DC converter, and a multi-level inverter, each of which are electrically coupled to a common negative bus. The DC-DC converter may include two stages in a bidirectional configuration. One stage of the DC-DC converter uses a flying capacitor topology. The voltages across the capacitors of the flying capacitor topology are balanced and switching losses are minimized by fixed duty cycle operation. The DC-DC converter generates a high DC voltage from a low or high voltage energy storage device such as batteries and/or ultra-capacitors. The multi-level, neutral point, diode-clamped inverter converts the high DC voltage into a medium AC voltage using a space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM) technique.

An electricity storage device includes a negative electrode having a layered structure that includes an organic backbone layer containing an aromatic compound having an aromatic ring structure, the aromatic compound being in the form of dicarboxylate anions, and an alkali metal element layer containing an alkali metal element coordinated with oxygen in the dicarboxylate anions to form a backbone, a positive electrode that provides electric double-layer capacity, and a nonaqueous electrolyte solution provided between the negative electrode and the positive electrode, the nonaqueous electrolyte solution containing an alkali metal salt. The layered structure may be provided in layers by a π-electron interaction of the aromatic compound and may have a monoclinic crystal structure belonging to the space group P2.sub.1/c. The positive electrode may contain activated carbon having a specific surface area of 1,000 m.sup.2/g or more.

An object of the present invention is to provide a carbonaceous material used for an electric double layer capacitor having a high electrostatic capacity and capable of maintaining the high electrostatic capacity and energy density over a long period and a method for producing the same. The present invention relates to a carbonaceous material having a specific surface area of 1,200 m.sup.2/g to 1,800 m.sup.2/g according to a BET method, an R-value of 1.2 or more and a G-band half-value width of 70 cm.sup.−1 or more according to a Raman spectrum.

Disclosed herein is an energy storage apparatus suitable for mounting on a printed circuit board using a solder reflow process, the apparatus comprising a sealed housing body comprising a positive internal contact and a negative internal contact each disposed within the body and each respectively in electrical communication with a positive external contact and a negative external contact, each of the external contacts providing electrical communication to the exterior of the body; an electric double layer capacitor (EDLC) energy storage cell disposed within a cavity in the body comprising a stack of alternating electrode layers and electrically insulating separator layers; an electrolyte disposed within the cavity and wetting the electrode layers; a positive lead electrically connecting a first group of one or more of the electrode layers to the positive internal contact; and a negative lead electrically connecting a second group of one or more of the electrode layers to the negative internal contact; wherein at least one of the positive external contact and the negative external contact is configured with an elongated exterior terminal configured to dissipate thermal shock to the energy storage apparatus.

The present application relates to the technical field of sensors, and in particular, to a flexible piezoresistive sensor and a preparation method thereof. The preparation method includes the following steps: cutting natural wood to obtain wood blocks; removing lignin and hemicellulose from the wood blocks to obtain an initial product; and connecting the initial product to an electrode, and conducting packaging to obtain the flexible piezoresistive sensor. The preparation method has the advantages of a wide range of raw materials, degradability, low cost, simple process, and industrial scale production, and the obtained product features excellent environmental friendliness, biocompatibility, designability, and flexibility, thereby providing a good application potential for a wearable device.

The present invention provides a nonaqueous electrolytic solution capable of improving electrochemical characteristics in the case of using an energy storage device at a high temperature and at a high voltage and further capable of inhibiting the gas generation while maintaining a capacity retention rate after storage at a high temperature and at a high voltage and also provides an energy storage device using the same. Disclosed is a nonaqueous electrolytic solution having an electrolyte salt dissolved in a nonaqueous solvent, the nonaqueous electrolytic solution containing a carboxylic acid ester compound represented by the following general formula (I). ##STR00001## In the formula, each of R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 independently represents a hydrogen atom, a —C(═O)—OR.sup.4 group, or the like, and R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 may be bonded to each other to form a ring structure. R.sup.3 represents a hydrogen atom or the like, and n represents an integer of 1 to 3. When n is 1, then L and R.sup.4 represent an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms or the like; and when n is 2 or 3, then L represents an n-valent connecting group, X represents a —C(═O)— group, an —S(═O)— group, an —S(═O).sub.2— group, an —S(═O).sub.2—R.sup.5—S(═O).sub.2— group or a CR.sup.6R.sup.7 group, R.sup.5 represents an alkylene group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, and each of R.sup.6 and R.sup.7 represents a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms.

A separator for power storage devices includes a synthetic resin film having minute pore portions, the separator having an air resistance of 30 sec/100 mL/16 μm or more and 100 sec/100 mL/16 μm or less, and a first scattering peak in a stretching direction measured by small-angle X-ray scattering measurement (SAXS) present in a range where a scattering vector is 0.0030 nm.sup.−1 or more and 0.0080 nm.sup.−1 or less.

Provided is a method for preparing a metal oxide or a metal hydroxide nano thin-film material by a molten salt method, which mainly comprises the following steps: heating a low-melting-point salt to a molten state, adding a substrate into the molten salt before or after melting for reaction; adding a metal source and continuing the reaction for a period of time; removing the substrate, cooling the substrate to a room temperature, cleaning and drying the substrate to obtain the metal oxide or metal hydroxide nano thin-film material; wherein, the mass ratio of the low-melting-point salt to the metal source is 100-1.5:1. The metal oxide and metal hydroxide nano-film materials with various nano-morphologies prepared by the method of the present application have morphologies that can be regulated and controlled by the types and proportions of the low-melting-point salts and metal sources.

An MOFs composite electrode material for supercapacitors includes: a Ni-BSC matrix, and a PEDOT coating layer coated on the Ni-BTC matrix, wherein a molar ratio of EDOT to Ni-BTC is 1:(1-4) based on a molar amount of EDOT monomer. A method for preparing the MOFs composite electrode material includes steps of: using nickel nitrate hexahydrate and benzenetricarboxylic acid as raw materials to synthesize Ni-BTC by a hydrothermal method; and using a liquid phase method to grow PEDOT on a surface of the Ni-BTC. An MOFs composite electrode slurry and a working electrode for the supercapacitors including the above MOFs composite electrode material or a MOFs composite electrode material prepared by the above method are also provided. The MOFs composite electrode material provided by the present invention combines advantages of Ni-BTC and PEDOT.