NSF Award
9661076
*** 9661076 Fortini This Phase I Small Business Innovation Research project will develop high-capacitance electrodes that combine high surface area with the electric double-layer effect and fast, reversible faradaic processes at the electrode. This will be accomplished by infiltrating aerogels with precious metal oxides via a unique process. The net result will be an electrode with the surface area of an aerogel, but with the pseudocapacitance properties of ruthenium oxide (RuO2). The primary drawbacks of current electrochemical double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) are cost and power density. The EDLC electrode material that allows for the greatest specific capacitance is RuO2 which is based on an expensive platinum group metal. Thus, the cost of such capacitors is quite high. Furthermore, because electrode surface area is the key parameter for capacitance, and because current technology only allows dispersal of the oxide electrode material to surface areas of ~120 m2/g, the bulk of the oxide mass remains unused. The optimization of high surface area, high-capacitance electrodes will have many applications in both the civilian and military sectors. Civilian applications include electric automobiles, pulse power supplies for high-power lasers, burst power for high-power signal generation, and power conditioning for satellites. Military applications include space power conditioning, laser weaponry, electronic fuses, safety and arming devices, and missile guidance systems. ***
