Supercapacitor Materials: Structure, Properties, and Applications for Energy Storage in Engineering Systems
- 1Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, USA
Abstract
The increasing global demand for high-performance, reliable, and sustainable energy storage systems has accelerated the development of supercapacitors as technologies capable of bridging the performance gap between conventional capacitors and batteries. Supercapacitors combine rapid charge-discharge capability, high power density, and exceptional cycle life through charge storage mechanisms based on ion adsorption and fast surface redox reactions at the electrode-electrolyte interface. This review examines the fundamental operating principles, charge storage mechanisms, electrode materials, mechanical and functional properties, fabrication methods, and engineering applications of modern supercapacitors. Carbon-based materials, metal oxides, conducting polymers, MXenes, sulfides, nitrides, borides, and emerging hybrid systems are critically compared in terms of capacitance, energy density, cycling stability, and mechanical robustness. Additionally, recent advances in scalable manufacturing approaches, including thin-film deposition and printing technologies, are discussed alongside key challenges such as limited energy density, interfacial instability, mechanical degradation, electrolyte compatibility, and large-scale processing. By consolidating recent developments across materials science, electrochemistry, and device engineering, this review provides insight into future directions for next-generation high-performance supercapacitor technologies.
Related
- Design and fabrication of graphene oxide-based nanocomposites with tuneable morphological properties for advanced supercapacitor applications
- Multifunctional structural, optical, magnetic and electrochemical properties of Co-ZnO nanoparticles for supercapacitor applications
- Nano-Based Advanced Thermoelectric Design: Materials Engineering and Thermal Management Applications
- Study on Photoelectric Properties and Applications of Nanostructured Materials
- Physics-inspired feature engineering and interpretable machine learning for thermoelectric properties of multicomponent materials
BibTeX
@article{pinoski2026supercapacitor,
title = {{Supercapacitor Materials: Structure, Properties, and Applications for Energy Storage in Engineering Systems}},
author = {Lincoln Pinoski and Subin Antony Jose and Jacob Dowling and Nicholas Eastwood and Carly Farthing and Gavin Fisher and Pradeep L. Menezes},
journal = {Materials},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
doi = {10.3390/ma19122454},
url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/ma19122454},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Supercapacitor Materials: Structure, Properties, and Applications for Energy Storage in Engineering Systems
AU - Lincoln Pinoski
AU - Subin Antony Jose
AU - Jacob Dowling
AU - Nicholas Eastwood
AU - Carly Farthing
AU - Gavin Fisher
AU - Pradeep L. Menezes
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/06/08
JO - Materials
DO - 10.3390/ma19122454
UR - https://doi.org/10.3390/ma19122454
AB - The increasing global demand for high-performance, reliable, and sustainable energy storage systems has accelerated the development of supercapacitors as technologies capable of bridging the performance gap between conventional capacitors and batteries. Supercapacitors combine rapid charge-discharge capability, high power density, and exceptional cycle life through charge storage mechanisms based on ion adsorption and fast surface redox reactions at the electrode-electrolyte interface. This review examines the fundamental operating principles, charge storage mechanisms, electrode materials, mechanical and functional properties, fabrication methods, and engineering applications of modern supercapacitors. Carbon-based materials, metal oxides, conducting polymers, MXenes, sulfides, nitrides, borides, and emerging hybrid systems are critically compared in terms of capacitance, energy density, cycling stability, and mechanical robustness. Additionally, recent advances in scalable manufacturing approaches, including thin-film deposition and printing technologies, are discussed alongside key challenges such as limited energy density, interfacial instability, mechanical degradation, electrolyte compatibility, and large-scale processing. By consolidating recent developments across materials science, electrochemistry, and device engineering, this review provides insight into future directions for next-generation high-performance supercapacitor technologies.
SN - 1996-1944
ER -