Influence of Mass Loading and Current Collector Choice on Self-Discharge in Sustainable Supercapacitors

Sharin Maria Thomas^a, Leandro Nicolás Bengoa Abraham^a, Anukriti Pokhriyal^a, Rosa Maria Gonzalez Gil^a, Pedro Gómez-Romero^a

^aCatalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, UAB Campus, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain

Proceedings of MATSUS Spring 2026 Conference (MATSUSSpring26)

F2 Electrochemical Energy Storage for a Green Future: Innovations in Materials, Manufacturing, and Recycling

Barcelona, Spain, 2026 March 23rd - 27th

Organizer: Taeseup Song

Oral, Sharin Maria Thomas, presentation 563
Publication date: 15th December 2025

In a fossil fuel phase-down era, the transition to cleaner energy solutions is the imperative need of the hour. Low carbon energy storage systems (ESS) such as supercapacitors(SCs) and rechargeable batteries are the potential key players in realising this changeover within the green and sustainable framework [2,3]. Aqueous electrolyte-based SCs have gained considerable attention due to their economic viability, environmental compatibility, high ionic conductivity, and safety, making them favourable alternatives to toxic organic electrolytes[4]. However, supercapacitors as such are not compatible to be integrated with energy harvesting devices as triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). TENGs produce low, irregular and instantaneous current. The inherent susceptibility to self-discharge in supercapacitors make it all the more challenging as the energy lost between the charging time could render the device unusable if left idle for longer durations. Any rapid decay or elevated leakage current can severely hinder the effective charge accumulation and sharply limit the system performance[5–7]. Consequently, understanding the electrode formulation, current collector selection, and the interfacial properties that influence the extend of different self-discharge mechanisms, is vital for advancing sustainable SCs compatible with low-power harvesters (SCs-TENGs).

In this study the influence of mass loading and electrochemically active surface area of carbon electrodes was examined on three different current collectors over a range of applied voltages. (Figure 1) The secondary yet beneficial role of ethyl cellulose as a binder towards self-discharge was established and the dominant self-discharge mechanism was identified across all electrodes. The insights obtained here contribute to the development of sustainable supercapacitors with regulated self-discharge and befitting electrochemical performance.

References:

[1] Muzaffar, A.; Ahamed, M.B.; Hussain, C.M. Green Supercapacitors: Latest Developments and Perspectives in the Pursuit of Sustainability. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 2024, 195, 114324

[2] Dubal, D.P.; Chodankar, N.R.; Kim, D.H.; Gomez-Romero, P. Towards Flexible Solid-State Supercapacitors for Smart and Wearable Electronics. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2018, 47, 2065–2129

[3] Zhong, C.; Deng, Y.; Hu, W.; Qiao, J.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, J. A Review of Electrolyte Materials and Compositions for Electrochemical Supercapacitors. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2015, 44, 7484–7539

[4] Andreas, H.A. Self-Discharge in Electrochemical Capacitors: A Perspective Article. J. Electrochem. Soc. 2015, 162, A5047–A5053

[5] Liu, K.; Yu, C.; Guo, W.; Ni, L.; Yu, J.; Xie, Y.; Wang, Z.; Ren, Y.; Qiu, J. Recent Research Advances of Self-Discharge in Supercapacitors: Mechanisms and Suppressing Strategies. J. Energy Chem. 2021, 58, 94–109

[6] Haque, M.; Li, Q.; Smith, A.D.; Kuzmenko, V.; Rudquist, P.; Lundgren, P.; Enoksson, P. Self-Discharge and Leakage Current Mitigation of Neutral Aqueous-Based Supercapacitor by Means of Liquid Crystal Additive. J. Power Sources 2020, 453, 227897

Acknowledgements:

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support provided by Ministerio de Ciencia y Innovacion (MCIIN), the Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (AEI) and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) (grants PID2024-157199OB-C21) and the Severo Ochoa Centres of Excellence programme, Grant CEX2021–001214-S, for this research activities. S.M.T. wants to thank her Predoctoral Severo Ochoa Grant (PRE2021-097210, SEV-2017-0706-21-2). This work has been carried out within the framework of the doctoral program (PhD) of Material Science of Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB).

nanoGe is a prestigious brand of successful science conferences that are developed along the year in different areas of the world since 2009. Our worldwide conferences cover cutting-edge materials topics like perovskite solar cells, photovoltaics, optoelectronics, solar fuel conversion, surface science, catalysis and two-dimensional materials, among many others.

MATSUS

Previously nanoGe Spring Meeting (NSM) and nanoGe Fall Meeting (NFM), MATSUS is a multiple symposia conference focused on a broad set of topics of advanced materials preparation, their fundamental properties, and their applications, in fields such as renewable energy, photovoltaics, lighting, semiconductor quantum dots, 2-D materials synthesis, charge carriers dynamics, microscopy and spectroscopy semiconductors fundamentals, etc.

International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics

International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics (HOPV) is celebrated yearly in May. The main topics are the development, function and modeling of materials and devices for hybrid and organic solar cells. The field is now dominated by perovskite solar cells but also other hybrid technologies, as organic solar cells, quantum dot solar cells, and dye-sensitized solar cells and their integration into devices for photoelectrochemical solar fuel production.

Asia-Pacific International Conference on Perovskite, Organic Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics

The main topics of the Asia-Pacific International Conference on Perovskite, Organic Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics (IPEROP) are discussed every year in Asia-Pacific for gathering the recent advances in the fields of material preparation, modeling and fabrication of perovskite and hybrid and organic materials. Photovoltaic devices are analyzed from fundamental physics and materials properties to a broad set of applications. The conference also covers the developments of perovskite optoelectronics, including light-emitting diodes, lasers, optical devices, nanophotonics, nonlinear optical properties, colloidal nanostructures, photophysics and light-matter coupling.

International Conference on Perovskite Thin Film Photovoltaics Perovskite Photonics and Optoelectronics

The International Conference on Perovskite Thin Film Photovoltaics Perovskite Photonics and Optoelectronics (NIPHO) is the best place to hear the latest developments in perovskite solar cells as well as on recent advances in the fields of perovskite light-emitting diodes, lasers, optical devices, nanophotonics, nonlinear optical properties, colloidal nanostructures, photophysics and light-matter coupling.