Temperature behavior and impedance fundamentals of supercapacitors

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is one of the most important analytical tools for characterization of electrochemical double-layer capacitors (EDLC). As an example, we have characterized a commercial capacitor (BCAP0350 Maxwell Technologies) by EIS, and we will discuss the typical performance of an EDLC compared to an ideal capacitor. EIS was used to determine internal resistance and capacitance of the same capacitor as a function of temperature and as a function of time during constant voltage tests. In addition, the effect of the electrolyte on the temperature behavior was investigated. While the capacitance is a very weak function of temperature, the ESR increases significantly with reduced temperature. Temperature effects are much more pronounced for propylene carbonate (PC) than for acetonitrile (AN)-based electrolytes. From the data obtained at various temperatures and voltages, we could determine acceleration factors for the degradation. On the basis of an Arrhenius plot of the leakage current measured during load life tests at capacitor voltages between 2.5 V and 3.0 V and temperatures between −40 °C and +70 °C, we determined acceleration factors for capacitor degradation of about 2 for a temperature increase of 10 °C and also a factor of about 2 for a potential increase of 0.1 V.