The first supercapacitor composed of silicon was recently created by researchers at Vanderbilt University — the novel supercapacitor opens up a number of very interesting possibilities with regard to solar cell technology and mobile electronics. In particular, the researchers note the possibility of developing solar cells that can provide electricity for a full 24 hours of the day, and of developing mobile phones that can recharge in seconds and work for weeks between charges.

The great strength of the new supercapacitor is that, since its created out of silicon, it can simply be built into a silicon chip along with and at the same time as the same microelectronic circuitry that it powers. The researchers even mention the possibility of constructing these power cells "out of the excess silicon that exists in the current generation of solar cells, sensors, mobile phones and a variety of other electromechanical devices, providing a considerable cost savings.”

"If you ask experts about making a supercapacitor out of silicon, they will tell you it is a crazy idea,” stated Cary Pint, the assistant professor of mechanical engineering who headed the development. “But we’ve found an easy way to do it.”

Most research to date to improve the energy density of supercapacitors has focused on the utilization of carbon-based nanomaterials like graphene and nanotubes, but because of the great difficulty in “constructing high-performance, functional devices out of nanoscale building blocks with any level of control,” improvements have been slow. So, the researchers decided to try something radically new — utilizing porous silicon, a material with a controllable and well-defined nanostructure made by electrochemically etching the surface of a silicon wafer.