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Rice University researchers have created a solid-state, nanotube-based supercapacitor that promises to combine the best qualities of high-energy batteries and fast-charging capacitors in a device suitable for extreme environments.
A paper from the Rice lab of chemist Robert Hauge, to be published in the journal Carbon, reported the creation of robust, versatile energy storage that can be deeply integrated into the manufacture of devices. Potential uses span on-chip nanocircuitry to entire power plants.
Standard capacitors that regulate flow or supply quick bursts of power can be discharged and recharged hundreds of thousands of times. Electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs), generally known as supercapacitors, are hybrids that hold hundreds of times more energy than a standard capacitor, like a battery, while retaining their fast charge/discharge capabilities.
But traditional EDLCs rely on liquid or gel-like electrolytes that can break down in very hot or cold conditions. In Rice's supercapacitor, a solid, nanoscale coat of oxide dielectric material replaces electrolytes entirely.
The researchers also took advantage of scale. The key to high capacitance is giving electrons more surface area to inhabit, and nothing on Earth has more potential for packing a lot of surface area into a small space than carbon nanotubes.
When grown, nanotubes self-assemble into dense, aligned structures that resemble microscopic shag carpets. Even after they're turned into self-contained supercapacitors, each bundle of nanotubes is 500 times longer than it is wide. A tiny chip may contain hundreds of thousands of bundles.
For the new device, the Rice team grew an array of 15-20 nanometer bundles of single-walled carbon nanotubes up to 50 microns long. Hauge, a distinguished faculty fellow in chemistry, led the effort with former Rice graduate students Cary Pint, first author of the paper and now a researcher at Intel,
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| Contact: David Ruth druth@rice.edu 713-348-6327 Rice University Source:Eurekalert |
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