SBIR Phase I: Carbon Nanofiber Based Supercapacitor

该小企业创新研究一期项目旨在开发基于活性碳纳米纤维的超级电容器，具有储存大能量和功率密度的能力。超级电容器正变得越来越有吸引力，因为它们有潜力提供高度可靠的峰值功率，但在储能方面并不引人注目。实现这一步能源储存的改善可以用成熟的进步来判断，但如果成功，它将对更多的商业部门产生重大影响。在这项拟议的研究中，将使用聚丙烯腈(PAN)聚合物的静电纺丝工艺生产聚合物前驱体纳米纤维。PAN纳米纤维将转化为活性碳纳米纤维，其比表面积超过用于超级电容器的传统电极材料的3到5倍。纳米纤维体系结构将通过改变各种工艺和产品特性来定制，以实现所需的功率和能量性能。该材料将用于制造基于单电池电极的超级电容器。电容器的电容(即能量)是可用表面积的直接函数。碳纳米纤维膜有望制造出具有低电阻率和高表面的薄、低密度电极，提供独特的电极材料和超级电容器。高功率超级电容器的发展是电子元器件领域的一次重要变革。这项技术为设备设计者提供了管理和更有效地使用其产品中的能源的新能力。双电层电容器性能的任何改进都将使该行业的超级电容器潜力受到更多关注。超级电容器的应用非常广泛，包括电动汽车、消费电子、工业电子和电动工具、电源管理等。

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.