SBIR Phase II: Advanced Materials for Hybrid Electrochemical Capacitors

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The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project involves the development of a nanostructured electrode material for high energy and power density hybrid electrochemical capacitors also called ultracapacitors or supercapacitors. Symmetric electrochemical capacitors that consist of two identical electrodes currently utilize flammable, non-aqueous electrolytes to improve the energy density. Hybrid or assymetric configurations that utilize different electrodes result in significantly higher energy densities and can operate in aqueous rather than non-aqueous electrolytes. The objectives of the Phase II project are to optimize the material's synthesis, further characterize the material, perform electrochemical testing to evaluate the energy density, power density and cycle life of the material, optimize the electrode fabrication process and electrolyte composition, and develop a low-cost, large-scale manufacturing process to produce the material. The anticipated result of the project is the development of a new, commercially viable electrode material that enables hybrid electrochemical capacitors with improved energy density, lower cost, and improved safety over current technologies. The development of low cost, high performance electrochemical capacitors has a substantial impact on the development of electric and hybrid vehicles, consumer and industrial electronics, and telecommunications devices. The broad impact of this technology is to enable the manufacturing of next generation electrochemical capacitors that will have higher energy densities, lower cost, and improved safety compared with current electrochemical capacitors. Hybrid electrochemical capacitors that have high energy densities as well as power densities result in improved performance power systems for numerous medium, high, and pulse-power applications. The ability of the hybrid ultracapacitor to operate in benign aqueous electrolytes reduces the cost of the device and has significant environmental and safety impacts, since current non-aqueous electrolytes are flammable and can emit toxic gases.