title: Charging dynamics of supercapacitors with narrow cylindrical nanopores.
abstract: We present a coarse-grained, continuum kinetic theory for charging supercapacitors with narrow cylindrical nanopores. The theory reveals that the occupancy of a nonpolarized pore and the energy barrier for ion-ion interdiffusion are the key issues controlling the different regimes of dynamic response. For 'ionophobic' pores, where the pore is empty at no applied voltage, charge density advances into the pore via diffusion-like dynamics. The mechanism of charging an 'ionophilic' pore is starkly different: for moderate ionophilicities, co-ions are expelled from the pore in a front-like manner, with significant 'congestion' at the pore entrance predicted for strong ionophilicity. We thus show that pore ionophilicity is detrimental to the speed of charging/discharging cycles, whereas making pores more ionophobic can substantially accelerate charging and cyclic recharging.
authors.affiliation: Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6GG, UK. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Alpha A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Svyatoslav
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kondrat
authors.forename: Gleb
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Oshanin
authors.forename: Alexei A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Kornyshev