A new polymer blend capacitors offers high energy density even at high temperatures, enabling smaller, lighter devices for electric vehicles and more.

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Penn State researchers have developed a polymer blend capacitor that stores roughly four times more energy than conventional polymer capacitors while operating at temperatures up to 250 °C, compared to the ~100 °C limit of today's devices. The material combines two commercially available plastics—polyetherimide (PEI) and PBPDA—which self-assemble into nanoscale structures when blended, achieving a dielectric constant of 13.5 versus the typical value of ~4 for polymer dielectrics. This could allow capacitors to shrink to one-fourth their current size without increased cost, reducing cooling requirements in high-power applications like EVs, aerospace, and data centers. Scaling from lab films to industrial continuous-roll manufacturing remains a key challenge before commercialization.

Polymer Blend Capacitor Packs Four Times More Energy

A plastics blend more powerful than its parts