PFI-TT: Ultrafast Electrochemical Capacitors for Electronic and Energy Applications

该创新-技术转化伙伴关系（PFI-TT）项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是开发超快电化学电容器技术，该技术将作为传感器和通信系统中脉冲信号生成和脉冲能量存储的快速响应能量设备，或作为滤波电容器，以消除电子电路中的电流纹波。 涟漪电流滤波的细分市场目前由铝电解质电容器（AEC）提供服务。然而，它们体积庞大、容量低、极性敏感性和寿命差阻碍了小型化和先进电子系统的发展。此外，由于AEC的缓慢响应，传统的超级电容器不能满足现代传感器和通信系统中对快速脉冲发电和脉冲能量存储的需求。一名博士后研究员、一名年轻的助理研究科学家和参与该项目的本科生将接受创业和领导力发展方面的培训，以加速拟议电容器的商业化。超快电容器的拟议研究旨在电极纳米结构设计和优化，制造工艺开发以及器件表征和测试。预计解决这些技术障碍将加速该技术的商业化。该PFI项目将开发新型交联碳纳米片，其进一步与纳米颗粒锚定，以实现大的电极表面积和降低的电极电阻。这种方法有望提供开发高性能超快电化学电容器所需的大电容密度和高频响应。此外，该项目有望实现纳米结构电极的大规模制造。最终，这个PFI项目将降低产品原型的风险，并将之前NSF资助的基础研究转化为可销售的产品。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is to develop an ultrafast electrochemical capacitor technology, which will act as rapidly responding energy devices for pulse signal generation and pulse energy storage in sensor and communication systems or as filtering capacitors to smooth out current ripples in electronic circuits. The market segment of ripple current filtering is currently served by aluminum electrolyte capacitors (AECs). However, their bulky size, low capacity, polarity sensitivity and poor lifetime prevent the development of miniaturized and advanced electronic systems. In addition, due to AECs' slow response, conventional supercapacitors do not address the need for fast pulse power generation and pulsed energy storage in modern sensors and communication systems. A postdoctoral researcher, a young assistant research scientist and undergraduate students participating in this project will be trained in entrepreneurship and leadership development to accelerate the commercialization of the proposed capacitors. The proposed research on ultrafast capacitors is aimed at electrode nanostructure design and optimization, fabrication process development, and device characterization and testing. It is expected that addressing these technical hurdles will accelerate the commercialization of the technology. This PFI project will develop novel crosslinked carbon nanofiber sheets, which are further anchored with nanoparticles to achieve both a large electrode surface area and a reduced electrode resistance. This approach is expected to deliver large capacitance density and a high frequency response which are required to develop high-performance ultrafast electrochemical capacitors. In addition, the project is expected to enable large-scale manufacturing of nanostructured electrodes. Ultimately, this PFI project will de-risk product prototyping and translate prior NSF-funded fundamental research into marketable products.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.