SBIR Phase I: Carbon Nanofiber Based Supercapacitor

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This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project aims to develop activated carbon nano-fiber based ultra-capacitor with ability to store large energy and power density. Super-capacitors are increasingly becoming attractive because of their potential to provide highly reliable peak power but are not notable for energy storage. Achieving this step improvement in energy storage may be judged by a maturing advancement but if successful it would have a major impact on many more business sectors. Under this proposed study, polymer precursor nano-fibers will be produced using an electro-spinning process from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) polymer. PAN nanofibers will be converted to activated carbon nano-fiber with surface area in excess of 3 to 5 times more than the conventional electrode material used in super-capacitors. The nanofiber architecture will be tailored to achieve the desired power and energy performance by varying various process and product properties. This material will be used to build single cell electrode based super-capacitor. Capacitor's capacitance (i.e., energy) is a direct function of available surface area. Carbon nano-fibrous membranes are expected to produce a thin, low-density electrode having low resistivity combined with high surface offering a unique electrode material and super-capacitor. The development of high power ultra-capacitors has been an important change in the electronics component world. This technology gives equipment designers new capability to manage and more effectively use energy in their products. Any improvement in double-layer capacitor performance will bring more attention to the industry's ultra-capcitor potential. Super-capacitors are candidates for many applications including electric vehicles, consumer and industrial electronics and power tools, power management, etc.