Fabrication and characterization of composite electrodes for the hybrid / electric vehicles applications

In recent years, significant research effort has been made in the automobile industry to reduce gas emissions. In this respect, developing energy storage materials for electrical vehicles, such as fuel cells, lithium-ion batteries and supercapacitors received great attention. In this thesis, various electrodes, electrolytes and current collectors were produced to investigate their usability and performance in supercapacitor applications. Electrodeposition and thermal oxidation methods were used to coat metallic surfaces and obtain Ni, Sn and Cu-based modified electrodes. To test their performance, modified electrodes were cycled in non-aqueous (ionic liquid) and aqueous (neutral, alkaline and acidic) electrolytes. Metal oxide-based electrodes were grown via cathodic coating from an ionic liquid on a steel current collector. The chemical properties and morphology of the films were examined with respect to changes in the applied voltage. Asymmetric flexible supercapacitors were fabricated using the modified electrodes and nonwoven graphite (textile) electrodes. The corrosion/deterioration behavior of the stainless-steel current collector was studied by comparing the performance of annealed and untreated steel mesh electrodes after polarization in different electrolytes. These studies indicated that electrodes produced by inexpensive methods show remarkable potential for use in automobile applications