Penn State polymer capacitor works up to 482 F and stores four times more energy
Feb 24th 2026
A team led by Penn State reports in Nature a low-cost polymer alloy that maintains a high dielectric constant from -148 F to 482 F, enabling capacitors with four times the energy density of current polymer devices.
- The research was published in Nature on Feb. 18 by a Penn State-led team.
- A polymer alloy of PEI and PBPDA achieved a dielectric constant of 13.5 that stays stable from -148 F to 482 F.
- The material delivers about four times the energy density of typical polymer capacitors and operates well above the usual 212 F failure point.
- Performance comes from mixing immiscible, commercially available polymers that self-assemble into 3D nanostructures which block charge leakage.
- Applications include electric vehicles, data centers, space systems and medical devices that need rapid bursts of power or high-temperature tolerance.
- The materials are inexpensive, the fabrication is scalable, and the team has filed a patent while working to commercialize the technology.