Among the many choices for energy storage devices, electrical double layer capacitors (EDLCs), also called supercapacitors, are attracting considerable attention. Supercapacitors store electrical energy via ion electrosorption directly in the EDLs at the electrolyte-electrode interface, suggesting that such liquid-solid interfaces play a dominant role in the underlying energy storage mechanism and the resulting device performance. Because electrical energy in supercapacitors is stored based on physical phenomena rather than chemical reaction (as in batteries), supercapacitors have fast rates of charge/discharge and a virtually limitless number of charge cycles. Much of the goal of supercapacitor research is aimed at increasing the amount of energy stored (energy density is the strong point in favor of batteries), which in turn focuses attention on the electrolyte, the nature of the electrode, and the electrode-electrolyte interactions.

To date, ionic liquids (ILs) have become emerging candidates for electrolytes used in supercapacitors; meanwhile carbons are the most widely used electrode materials in supercapacitors. To improve the energy density and the transport properties of the charge carriers in supercapacitors, carbons have been developed in diverse forms such as activated carbons, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), onion-like carbons (OLCs), carbode-derived carbons and graphene. Using molecular modeling combined with molecular experimental probes, such as SAXS, SANS, NMR, and AFM, we report on our investigations into the interfacial phenomena occurring between the IL electrolytes and electrodes of varying geometries to understand the energy storage mechanism of supercapacitors that rely on EDLs established at IL-electrode interfaces.

Cummings教授1976年本科毕业于澳大利亚纽卡斯尔大学（University of Newcastle）数学系，1980年于澳大利亚墨尔本大学（University of Melbourne）获得博士学位；1980-1981年在加拿大圭尔夫大学从事博士后研究；于1983年加入美国弗吉尼亚大学化学工程系，并于1991-1993年担任教授职位。2007-2013年，Cummings教授任美国橡树岭国家实验室纳米材料科学中心首席科学家，2002年至今，任美国范德堡大学化学工程系John R. Hall教授，2013年至今任范德堡大学工程学院研究副院长。Cummings教授现为AIChE Journal副主编，Molecular Simulation、Journal of Theoretical and Computational Nanoscience、Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics、Fluid Phase Equilibria、Journal of Computational Science期刊编辑；美国化工学会、美国科学促进会会士和美国物理学会。

Cummings教授研究领域主要集中于流体等无定形系统模拟、复杂系统分子模拟、理论与计算纳米科学，基于计算机辅助的过程设计与优化以及生物系统的模拟。已发表5部专著或章节；22篇综述和科技报告；近400篇期刊论文，包括Cell、JACS、PRL、Nano Letters等期刊，涵盖生物、化学、物理、材料和能源等领域；总引用超过13500次，H-index为59。获Yeram S. Touloukian奖、John M. Prausnitz奖等重要奖励。