Design, Assembly and Electrochemical Characterization of Asymmetric Carbon Nanotube Supercapacitors

本研究致力于将非对称超级电容器设计的新概念与定义良好、排列良好的碳纳米管阵列相结合，以设计超级电容器中独特的电极材料。利用碳纳米管的卓越特性，PI将开发一系列基于碳纳米管的对称和非对称配置的超级电容器。不同的设计构型，如同轴电缆类型和平行板，将被探索与纳米管。确定和理解碳纳米管的合成、微结构和几何结构之间的关系以及它们作为超级电容器电极的电化学性能的实验将被阐明。此外，还将对超长单壁碳纳米管束的超级电容进行预测模型和实验评估。我们还将进行碳纳米管-金属氧化物复合电极超级电容器和纳米多孔碳电极超级电容器的合成和电化学表征，以与原始的碳纳米管电极超级电容器进行性能比较。新设计和制造的碳纳米管非对称超级电容器有望表现出高能量密度和高功率密度，以及长的循环寿命。拟议项目的成功将使纳米技术与电力存储系统集成成为可能，这将对纳米技术与电子技术的集成产生广泛的影响。这一集成技术将为更换重电池和短寿命电池提供卓越而可靠的解决方案。拟议项目的成果将提供在高频下进行高功率开关的潜力，并可形成可用于任何电子设备(如片上电源系统)的小型化设备的基础。此外，以碳材料为电极的小尺寸超级电容器的成功优化，将为零排放电动汽车电源的可能实现指明方向。

This research is focused on the coupling of new concepts of asymmetric supercapacitor design with well defined and well aligned carbon nanotube arrays to design unique electrode materials in the supercapacitors. Utilizing the remarkable properties of Carbon Nanotubes the PI will develop a range of Carbon Nanotube-based supercapacitors both in symmetric and asymmetric configurations. Different design configurations such as coaxial cable type and parallel plate will be explored with nanotubes. Experiments to determine and understand the relationships among synthesis, microstructure and geometric architectures of Carbon Nanotubes, and their electrochemical performance as supercapacitor electrodes will be elucidated. Also, predictive model and experimental evaluation for supercapacitance in super-long single-walled Carbon Nanotube strands will be performed. Synthesis and electrochemical characterization of CNT-metal oxide composite and nanoporous carbon electrode supercapacitors will also be done in order to compare the performance with the pristine Carbon Nanotube electrode supercapacitors. The newly designed and fabricated Carbon Nanotube asymmetric supercapacitors are expected to show high energy density and high power density, as well as long cycle life.The success of the proposed project will enable an integration of nanotechnology with power storage system, which has a broad impact on integration of nanotechnology with electronics. This integrated technology will offer superior and reliable solution in replacing heavy and short-life battery. The outcome of the proposed project will offer the potential for high power switching at high frequency and can form the basis of a miniaturized device that can be used by any electronics such as on-chip power systems. Further, the successful optimization of the supercapacitors with carbonaceous materials as electrodes at smaller scale, will lead to the directions on the possible realization of the power source for zero-emission electric vehicle applications.