Carbon Foam Capacitor Hybrid
Scientists at Michigan Tech have been working on a power-storage device to combine the electrical-storage density of a chemical battery with the power-delivery efficiency of a solid-state capacitor. One impressive feature: a unique carbon foam used as a cathode to increase the storage capacity. Using a carbon anode, the hybrid battery/capacitor not only weighs less than a conventional lithium battery, but it also delivers more of its charge than a typical capacitor. The unit can be recharged thousands of times without showing signs of degraded performance.