Polymer can store energy at higher temperatures without breaking down

04-Aug-15

A new polymer that is able to store energy at higher temperatures than conventional polymers without breaking down has been created by a team of researchers at the Pennsylvania State University. In a paper published in the journal Nature, the team describes how they created the polymer and why they believe it could be useful in many products. In this new effort, the researchers have taken a new approach to creating a polymer that allows for use in extremely hot applications. The new polymer was created by the team by adding nanometer-scale sheets of boron nitride to a conventional polymer, which testing showed increased its energy density by 400% (which means capacitors made using it could be smaller and thus lighter). And testing also showed the newly improved polymer was able to remain stable at temperatures as high as 300°C, and was able to withstand rigorous bending. One drawback of the new polymer is that because it requires an extra step, its production costs would be higher than for conventional dielectric polymer capacitors, and there are also still questions about how easy it would be to prevent defects and whether it will stand up to long term wear and tear