Hierarchical Nanostructures: Application to Supercapacitors - Hierarchical Nanostructures for Energy Devices - page 204

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CHAPTER 9
Hierarchical Nanostructures:
Application to Supercapacitors

JUNG BIN IN* AND COSTAS P. GRIGOROPOULOS

Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley,
California 94720, U.S.A
*Email: [e-mail]

9.1 Introduction
In conjunction with the energy crisis, environmental issues accompanying
the utilization of energy resources have driven the development of new
technologies that can realize highly ecient as well as environmentally
friendly energy generation. The rise of green technology represents such an
effort. In this respect, we are facing a new era of energy science: nano-
technology, a possible game changer. A recent endeavor to enhance the
energy conversion eciency of nanomaterial-based solar energy systems
exemplifies the paradigm change.
Along with ecient harvesting, conversion and consumption of energy,
the development of novel energy storage systems constitutes the main body
of technical approaches to improve the overall eciency of energy utiliza-
tion. While the production of energy is mainly based on the large-scale plant
industry, the energy produced is delivered to various consumer units
ranging from residential houses to energy-intensive facilities. Since
consumption of energy hardly occurs synchronously with its production, the
development of energy storage systems is needed for stable use of the
energy. Moreover, explosively growing demands for mobile electronics is

.