SBIR Phase I: Structural Multifunctional Composites with Energy Storage Properties

该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将开发一种纳米结构的轻质材料，除了具有高机械强度外，还可用于存储电能。 这样的材料可以以大的可成形片材、圆柱体或其他三维形状的形式生产。 采用了一种独特的生产工艺，基于纳米厚金属层的高速逐层形成，这些金属层由纳米厚聚合物层隔开，从而形成具有数万层的结构。 金属层的纳米分离防止了位错的传播，这导致具有上级机械性能的金属/聚合物纳米层压复合材料。 初步工作表明，铝/聚合物纳米层压材料比相同厚度的铝片具有更低的密度和更高的拉伸强度。 相同的金属/聚合物结构先前已用于生产静电电容器，其中铝金属形成电容器电极，聚合物层形成电容器电介质。 电子应用中使用的纳米层压电容器可以在宽温度范围内工作，具有非常高的体积效率，并且可以自我修复。 提出的发展的主要目标是联合收割机结合到一个材料系统的结构和电容存储性能。该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力在于将对轻质结构材料的需求与对能量存储的需求相结合的应用。 具有电能存储性能的高强度、轻质聚合物-金属多层纳米复合材料可以取代混合动力和电动汽车、商用和军用飞机、各种电池供电平台和移动的脉冲电源应用中的超级电容器和结构部件。 传统的电化学超级电容器是电池类装置，由于其能够以最小的退化经历大量的充电/放电循环，因此可以用于备用电池。 与电池一样，它们也受到温度限制，需要放置在车辆内的特定位置，并且可能会发生灾难性故障（短路）。 待开发的结构纳米层压存储设备可以处理比大多数热塑性材料更高的温度，足够耐用以集成到车辆的外部或内部面板中，具有开路故障模式并且由低成本材料组成。 预计这种多功能结构将在提高能源效率和减少对矿物燃料的依赖方面发挥重要作用。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop a nanostructured, lightweight material which, in addition to its high mechanical strength, can also be used to store electrical energy. Such materials can be produced in the form of large formable sheets, cylinders, or other three-dimensional shapes. A unique production process is used, based on a high speed layer-by-layer formation of nanometer-thick metal layers separated by nanometer-thick polymer layers, resulting in a structure with tens of thousands of layers. The nanometer separation of the metal layers prevents the propagation of dislocations, which results in metal/polymer nanolaminate composites with superior mechanical properties. Preliminary work has shown that aluminum/polymer nanolaminates have lower density and higher tensile strength than aluminum sheets of equal thickness. The same metal/polymer structure has previously been used to produce electrostatic capacitors, where the aluminum metal forms the capacitor electrodes and the polymer layers form the capacitor dielectric. Nanolaminate capacitors used in electronic applications can operate over a wide temperature range, have very high volumetric efficiency and are self-healing. The major objective of the proposed development is to combine the structural and capacitive storage properties into one material system. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project lies in applications that combine a need for lightweight structural materials with a need for energy storage. High-strength, lightweight polymer-metal multilayer nanocomposites with electrical energy storage properties could replace supercapacitors and structural components in hybrid and electric vehicles, commercial and military aircraft, various battery operated platforms, and mobile pulse power applications. Conventional electrochemical supercapacitors are battery-like devices that can be used to backup batteries due to their ability to undergo a large number of charge/discharge cycles with minimum degradation. Like batteries, they are subject to temperature limitations, require being located in a specific location within a vehicle, and can fail catastrophically (short-circuit). The structural nanolaminate storage devices to be developed can handle temperatures higher than most thermoplastic materials, are durable enough to be integrated into exterior or interior panels of a vehicle, have an open-circuit failure mode and are composed of low-cost materials. Such multifunctional structures are expected to play a major role in improving energy efficiency and reducing dependency on fossil fuels.