Superior Cycling Performance of a Carbon Fiber Structural Supercapacitor with Activated Carbon and Dual-Resin Electrolytes

With the swift progression of aerospace technology, structural energy storage devices are required to possess both mechanical compression capabilities and power storage capacity to meet the objectives of multifunctionality and lightweight design. A carbon fiber composite structural supercapacitor, based on a dual-resin matrix and activated carbon, was developed to satisfy these needs. Experimental results indicated that the specific capacitance and energy density normalized by area were 25.2 mF/cm2 and 78.8 mWh/cm2 at a current density of 0.5 mA/cm2, respectively. Capacitance retention was approximately 99.7%, with Coulombic efficiency surpassing 92.5% after 10,000 cycles. Under a load-bearing capacity of 30 kPa, the specific capacitance exhibited a 27.2% reduction compared with the unloaded state, with about 97% capacitance retention after pressure release. The tensile strength and elastic modulus were measured at 137.30 MPa and 8.3 GPa, respectively, showing decreases of 11.5 and 14.4% compared to conventional structural components. The structural supercapacitor demonstrated excellent electrochemical and mechanical performance, indicating its potential for extensive aerospace applications.