Ligna Energy launches new sustainable supercapacitors

The new S-Power 2R is made entirely from sustainable, non-toxic, and easily recyclable materials. Containing only aluminium as its metal component and activated carbon made from recovered bio-materials, this innovative design results in a significantly lower environmental footprint compared to the materials typically used in conventional supercapacitors.

The 20mm x 20mm 2R, which has maximum thickness of 0.4mm, is ideal for use in slim form factors such as smart cards or asset tracking tags. The S-Powers thin form factor with an aluminium laminate pouch gives much greater design flexibility than traditional cylindrical supercapacitors. The 2R can even be applied to curved surfaces.

The supercapacitor’s ESR of 2.5Ω and long life of more than 100,000 cycles make it suitable for NFC and RFID applications in which the electronic circuitry is powered by the energy harvested from a reader’s RF field. Operating at a rated voltage of 2.7V when fully charged, the 2R also provides an excellent energy store for devices powered by ambient light, such as wireless sensors or remote controls.

Sustainable material choices

Like Ligna’s existing products, the new S-Power 2R benefits from breakthroughs in sustainable materials science commercialised by the company and based on research performed at Linköping university in Sweden. Ligna’s products contain none of the toxic chemicals found in competing products and are 100% safe to recycle or dispose of.

In addition, the choice of materials in Ligna’s products is made with the aim of maximising the scope for recycling at the end of the host product’s life and minimising the device’s carbon footprint.

John Söderström, Marketing Director at Ligna Energy, said: "No other supercapacitor can get close to the S-Power products for sustainability, non-toxicity, and use of green, bio-based materials.

"Now, with the launch of the 2R, Ligna Energy is giving manufacturers of smart cards, NFC tags and other RF energy-based products the chance to make their products greener while benefiting from the 2R’s ultra-thin form factor and excellent electrical performance."