STTR Phase I: Supercapacitors for Power Supplies

该项目的广泛影响/商业潜力是首次商业开发可以传输和存储能量的铜电缆。目前，铜电缆被用于传输电力。为这些电缆增加能量存储能力是变革性的，并且有可能被用于无数的电气和电子应用。将这些电缆制成线轴，并定制切成一定长度以达到所需的电容，这对商业应用非常有吸引力。提出的研究使我们能够理解如何在不相互干扰的情况下同时进行能量传输和存储。这些电缆可以在汽车、能源、国防和IT行业找到合适的应用。此外，当制成细线时，它可以编织成一个矩阵，可以用来给可穿戴设备充电。例如，目前，一名士兵在执行为期三天的任务时要携带大约30-40磅的电池。然而，如果像这里提出的这样的能量存储设备可以制成先进的纺织品形式，并可以作为制服穿着，那么目前士兵携带的重量可以大大减轻。开发的电缆储能装置也有利于为风能和太阳能等清洁能源技术储存能源。这个小型企业技术转让（STTR）一期项目填补了电缆型电容器的空白，节省了空间，并且很好地适合电气和电子设备。本课题的目标是利用基于纳米技术的制造技术，在铜电缆上生长具有高表面积的纳米晶须，以制造电缆型电容器。这些纳米结构大大增加了存储电荷所需的表面积。由于纳米结构只在电缆的外部发展以储存能量，电缆的内部仍然可以用于电力传输。提出的研究重点是开发可用于将这些纳米结构电极制成电缆电容器的工艺。生长纳米结构的制造技术将被设计成可以制造出很长的电缆。电缆电容器的性能将在电容、循环寿命、电压输出等方面进行测试。此外，还将测试不同弯曲角度下电缆的柔韧性，以评估其在柔性储能应用中的应用。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is the first time commercial development of a copper cable which can transmit and store energy. Currently, copper cables are used for transmitting electricity. Adding energy storage capability to these cables is transformative and has the potential to be employed in a myriad of electrical and electronic applications. Making these cables into spools of wires and custom sliced into a certain length to achieve a required capacitance will be very attractive to commercial applications. The proposed study enables to understand how energy transmission and storage can be simultaneously performed without mutual interference. These cables can find niche applications in the automotive, energy, defense, and IT industries. Moreover, when made into thin wires, it can be weaved into a matrix which can be used to charge wearable devices. For example, currently, a soldier carries about 30-40 pounds of battery for a three-day mission. However, if energy storage devices like the one proposed here can be made into an advanced textile form and can be worn as a uniform, the weight currently carried by the soldiers can be considerably reduced. A cable energy storage device developed can also be beneficial for storing energy for clean-energy technologies such as wind and solar.This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project fills the gap of a cable-type capacitor which saves space and fits well with electrical and electronic devices. The objective of this proposal is to use nanotechnology-based fabrication techniques to grow nanowhiskers with a high surface area on a copper cable to make cable-type capacitors. These nanostructures considerably enhance the surface area necessary for the storage of electrical charges. Since nanostructures are developed only on the outside of the electrical cable to store energy, the inner part of the cable can still be used for electrical transmission. The focus of the proposed research is to develop the processes which can be used to make these nanostructured electrodes into a cable capacitor. The fabrication techniques for growing nanostructures will be so designed that making long lengths of the cables are feasible. The performance of the cable-based capacitors will be tested in terms of capacitance, cycle life, voltage output, etc. In addition, the flexibility of the cable will be tested at different bend-angles to evaluate its applications in flexible energy storage applications.