European Network to Empower Research on CAPacitors

Supercapacitors are a promising solution for fast charging and regenerative energy acquisition, with potential market applications in the near future, incl. e-vehicles and space applications.

A deep analysis of the supercapacitor technology and market state of the art was undertaken by ENERCAP as a sound basis for a training network that meets academic and industrial needs.

The results revealed that the lack of novel materials and electrolytes that meet the industrial requirements of higher energy densities and the lack of new industrially compatible materials, processes and prototypes are major challenges towards a successful market introduction of the supercapacitor technology.

It became evident that Europe currently lags behind the USA and Asia in supercapacitor innovation and market performance due to the lack of intersectoral and interdisciplinary collaboration between academia and industry, a clear barrier for technology transfer and bringing innovation to the market.

As a response to these challenges, ENERCAP gathered for the first time the most renowned academic players in the field together with driving force companies in order to create a European Network to Empower Research on the field of CAPacitors, ensuring technology transfer.

Furthermore, ENERCAP aims to, by means of an innovative training network, create a critical mass of future top-class researchers able to respond to innovation challenges in the field of supercapacitors.ENERCAP is devoted to provide future researchers with the skills to produce innovative ideas that can be transferred to market applications.

Through a comprehensive training programme driven by the needs of industry, ESRs will not only be provided with necessary interdisciplinary knowledge and research techniques but become entrepreneurially spirited researchers who own a broad range of transferable skills and are able to envisage the needs of markets and end-users while being at the frontier of research.