Specializing liquid electrolytes and carbon-based materials in EDLCs for low-temperature applications

Electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) are emerging technologies to meet the ever-increasing demand for sustainable energy storage devices and systems in the 21st Century owing to their advantages such as long lifetime, fast charging speed and environmentally-friendly nature, which play a critical part in satisfying the demand of electronic devices and systems. Although it is generally accepted that EDLCs are suitable for working at low temperatures down to −40 °C, there is a lack of comprehensive review to summarize the quantified performance of EDLCs when they are subjected to low-temperature environments. The rapid and growing demand for high-performance EDLCs for auxiliary power systems in the aeronautic and aerospace industries has triggered the urge to extend their operating temperature range, especially at temperatures below −40 °C. This article presents an overview of EDLC's performance and their challenges at extremely low temperatures including the capability of storing a considerable amount of electrical energy and maintaining long-term stability. The selection of electrolytes and electrode materials is crucial to the performance of EDLCs operating at a desired low-temperature range. Strategies to improve EDLC's performance at extremely low temperatures are discussed, followed by the future perspectives to motivate more future studies to be conducted in this area.