Composite Materials with integrated ‘‘massless’’ energy storage for use in civil and mobile applications such as electric vehicles, drones, and composite planes

Nowadays in electric cars, batteries, contribute a large part of the vehicle's weight, which means additional footprinting and load bearing function. On the other hand, an integrated structural and supercapacitor system is one that works with a double function as the power source and as part of the structure a car/drone/plane body. This is a "massless energy storage because in essence the battery's weight vanishes when it becomes part of the load baring structure. Calculations show that this type of multifunctional battery could greatly reduce the weight of an electric vehicle or other mobile application significantly. Recent development of structural batteries at Chalmers University of Technology has proceeded through many years of research, including previous discoveries involving certain types of carbon fibre. This work was named by Physics World as one of 2018’s ten biggest scientific breakthroughs in our times. 

Different approaches to improve battery run-time with supercapacitors has been done in the last decade and a series of papers was presented. Looking ahead at consumer behaviour it is conceivable that the next generation of electric cars, electric planes and satellites and intelligent houses will be powered by such structural composite systems.

The aim of this project is to generate different composites parts able to act like the power source battery function and have a powered electrical contribution.

The objectives of the project are:

• Test Composites Structures Design as ‘‘massless’’ energy storage 

• Modelling power Sources in comparison to energy generation

• Develop and demonstrate a cost efficient and environmental efficient method in order to avoid external batteries and chemicals related that have to be on disposal after the end life of the batteries

• Generate a well-known waste with predictable properties and volume fraction

• Generate new materials such as polymer supercapacitors with high surface area integrated with batteries

• Develop new commercial polymer composite products.

Potential uses for high volume/high value waste materials

• New composites for use as power source as well

• New Intelligent power storage composites for use in Mechanical/ Aero/Aerospace/Civil/ Construction (Intelligent buildings)

• Insulation laminates

• Composites parts with embedded source of energy for electric cars, Aerospace or civil applications.