STTR Phase I: Synthesis of multifunctional nanofibrous polyaniline/carbon composites

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。该小企业技术转让第一阶段项目将开发基于聚苯胺（PAni）纳米纤维（PANF）和碳纳米纤维（CNFs）的新型多功能材料用于储能。尽管已经报道了PAni复合材料用于广泛的应用，包括传感器、生物传感器、光电致变色电池等，由于它们优异的电、热和机械性能，没有一种材料利用PANF与CNF组合所期望的增强性能。PANF具有比PAni纳米球和纳米棒更大的电子电导率，并且可以在各种基底上合成。Solarno将使用一种专有工艺在CNF上合成PANF复合材料。在第一阶段，Solarno将使用这些复合材料作为非对称超级电容器的电极材料，这是一种能够提供高能量和功率的技术，具体技术目标是：在CNF基底上合成和表征PANF，并实现15 Wh/kg，10 kW/kg和10次循环的超级电容器性能，从而在功率和循环寿命方面远远超过目前的铅酸电池。在第二阶段，我们将提高这些设备的能量密度，以实现潜在的电池替代，并探索复合材料的其他功能，如传感器和电化学设备。Solarno开发的PANF/CNF复合材料将通过材料销售和合作/许可安排引入超级电容器市场，并随后引入相关的电化学功能/应用。Solarno针对混合动力汽车（HEV）市场的需求进行了初步的超级电容器设计，因此，最终客户将是主要的汽车制造商。市场要求电容器提供更高的能量密度、更小的尺寸、更高的可靠性和更低的成本。市售EDLC通常提供约4 Wh/kg的能量密度和15-21 kW/kg之间的功率密度。这里开发的超级电容器可以通过提供25 Wh/kg的能量密度和更好的可靠性（2.0 x 104次循环）在这个市场中脱颖而出;第一阶段的工作将优化我们的PANF/CNF复合材料的性能，以实现这一目标。超级电容器也将非常适合可再生能源的负载均衡;直接的社会效益将来自于提高混合动力汽车和可再生能源的可行性，与减少化石燃料消耗有关，为风能和太阳能发电场提供桥梁电力，并部分取代铅酸蓄电池。这项工作在优化超级电容器用PAni复合材料方面的结果将很好地转化为其他应用的改进功能。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I project will develop novel multifunctional materials based on polyaniline (PAni) nanofibers (PANFs) and carbon nanofibers(CNFs) for energy storage. Although PAni composites have been reported for a wide range of applications, including sensors, biosensors, photoelectrochromic cells, etc., due to their excellent electrical, thermal and mechanical properties, none capitalize on the enhanced properties expected from the combination of PANF with CNF. PANFs have greater electronic conductivity than PAni nanospheres and nanorods and can be synthesized on a variety of substrates. Solarno will use a proprietary process for synthesizing composites of PANFs on CNFs. In Phase I Solarno will use these composites as electrode materials for asymmetric supercapacitors, an enabling technology that provides both high energy and power, with the specific technical objectives of: synthesizing and characterizing PANFs on CNF substrates, and achieving supercapacitor performance of 15 Wh/kg, 10 kW/kg and 10 cycles, thus far exceeding current lead acid batteries in terms of power and cycle life. In Phase II we will improve the energy density of these devices to enable potential replacement of such batteries, and explore other functions for the composites, such as sensors and electro-chemical devices. The PANF/CNF composites developed by Solarno will be introduced to the supercapacitor market via materials sales, and partnering/licensing arrangements, and later to related electrochemical functions/applications. Solarno is targeting requirements of the Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) market for its initial supercapacitor designs, and as such, the ultimate customers will be major automobile manufacturers. The market requires that capacitors provide higher energy density, reduced size, higher reliability, and lower cost. Commercially available EDLCs commonly provide energy densities around 4 Wh/kg, and power densities between 15-21 kW/kg. The supercapacitor developed here can excel in this market by providing energy density 25 Wh/kg and better reliability (2.0 x 104 cycles); the Phase I work will optimize the properties of our PANF/CNF composite to meet this goal. The supercapacitors will also be well-suited for load-leveling for renewable energy sources; direct societal benefits will come from improving the viability of HEVs and renewable sources, tied to reductions in fossil fuel consumption, providing bridge power for wind and solar power farms, and partially replacing lead acid storage batteries. The results of this work in optimizing PAni composites for supercapacitors will translate well into improved functionality for other applications.