Technical Article: Safety Considerations for Acetonitrile SuperCapacitors

Safety Considerations for Acetonitrile SuperCapacitors
Safety Considerations for Acetonitrile SuperCapacitors
Written By: Akihiro Kado
Abstract:
Advancements in SuperCapacitor design and manufacturing have made them a mainstay component in power supplies and backup systems that require high power density output. SuperCapacitors have now become commonplace components in many areas of modern electronic design. They bridge an important gap between batteries – used for high density energy storage, and electronic capacitors – for local power supply stabilization and decoupling.

SuperCapacitors offer the unique ability to provide large amounts of power for short periods of time. For this reason, they have found a home in applications such as electric vehicles, uninterruptible power supplies, and data storage devices. A wide variety of SuperCapacitor structures and materials have been developed, and two of the most common are based on acetonitrile and propylene carbonate solvents.

Unfortunately, even with enhanced performance, acetonitrile based SuperCapacitors have suffered slow adoption due to the lack of safety and reliability data. This is especially true in the automotive industry and other applications where rigorous safety requirements are mandated across extremely harsh environmental conditions.

DOWNLOAD TECHNICAL PAPER