Convection can enhance the capacitive charging of porous electrodes

Abstract

Charge transport in porous electrodes is foundational for modern energy storage technologies like supercapacitors, fuel cells, and batteries. Supercapacitors in particular rely solely on storing energy in charged pores. Here, we simulate the charging of a single electrolyte-filled pore using the modified Poisson–Nernst–Planck and Navier–Stokes equations. We find that electroconvection can substantially speed up the charging dynamics. We uncover the fundamental mechanism of electroconvection during pore charging through an analytical model that predicts the induced flow field and the electric current arising due to convection. Our findings suggest that convection is especially important in the limit of slender pores with thin electric double layers, and becomes significant beyond a certain threshold voltage that is an inherent electrolyte property.