SBIR Phase I: Metamaterials for Giant Dielectrics and Energy Storage Solutions

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This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I research project explores a novel laser processing technique to produce nano-dielectric films which are based on polymer coated metal nanoparticles. This will enable in-house synthesis of nano-dielectrics films using laser irradiation of target materials in a liquid environment exhibiting a dielectric constant several orders of magnitude higher than that of the host polymer. Scaling up this technology will lead to fabrication of high energy density capacitors with both reduced size and mass. The pulsed laser ablation process has been successfully applied for fabrication of micro column arrays on various materials for blackbody and thermal management applications. The proposed method can lead to very high dielectric constants which would increase the energy density of the dielectric. The proposal also addresses high temperature use. The broader impact will be to lead to the fabrication of ultra high energy storage capacitors that will find use in commercial and military systems where size and weight are a premium. These devices should allow storage of a large amount of charge per unit volume (high energy density) that can be released rapidly (high power density). Commercial super-capacitors currently available have either too low power or energy density to meet future power storage needs or are too expensive to manufacture. This technology will find applications in load leveling, power back-up in electronics and automotive industry and various aerospace and military systems.