MCA: Fabrication of Structural Organic Supercapacitors

充电速度快、寿命长的储能设备是为我们日常生活中的无线电子设备供电的关键。该奖项支持基于结构超级电容器的储能技术的基础研究，该技术将潜在地为快速充电提供高峰值功率，并延长设备寿命以最大限度地降低维护成本。结构超级电容器是一种集机械和电化学功能于一体的多功能装置，它减轻了重量，最大限度地利用了结构空间，增加了可用能量容量。然而，在如何设计和制造这类设备方面存在知识空白。该项目将提供与电沉积工艺相关的新知识，使材料和器件结构能够精确调整，以在新一代结构超级电容器中获得前所未有的能量密度和机械强度。研究和推广活动将吸引代表不足的学生，并促进未来多元化劳动力的培训和发展，致力于能源可持续发展，促进我们的国家福利和繁荣。这项研究的目标是通过构建独特稳定的氧化还原聚合物和可扩展的电沉积技术，精确地创建分层复合材料，并获得所需的机械和电化学属性。研究小组将为电池子组件(电极和电解液)建立系统的设计原则，并在将电池组装在一起时，通过超声波诊断检查整个结构，以了解界面相互作用并评估电池的多功能效率。非破坏性、低成本的超声波技术将直接探测设备的机械性能并揭示其随时间的变化，特别是识别必须缓解的化学和结构退化机制，以实现长循环寿命和高度耐用的系统。该项目将电化学存储领域与材料力学在融合研究中相结合，为有机结构超级电容器提供结构-加工-性能关系，并为未来与制造兼容的实际制造工艺提供蓝图。该项目还将允许首席研究员通过与其他机构的研究人员合作来加强她的研究计划，积累专业知识来应对制造结构储能设备的挑战。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Energy storage devices that offer fast charging and long lifetime are essential for powering wireless electronics in our daily lives. This award supports fundamental research on energy storage technologies based on structural supercapacitors, which will potentially provide high peak power for rapid charging and extend device lifetime to minimize maintenance costs. Structural supercapacitors are multi-functional devices that integrates mechanical and electrochemical functions, reducing weight and maximizing the use of structural space to increase the available energy capacity. However, there are knowledge gaps on how to design and fabricate this class of devices. This project will contribute new knowledge related to electrodeposition processing that enables precise tuning of materials and device structures to attain unprecedented energy density and mechanical strength in a new generation of structural supercapacitors. The research and outreach activities will engage under-represented students and foster the training and development of a future diverse workforce that works towards energy sustainability, promoting our national welfare and prosperity.The goal of this research is to precisely create hierarchical composites and attain the desired mechanical and electrochemical attributes by building on uniquely stable redox polymers and scalable electrodeposition techniques. The research team will establish systematic design principles for the cell subcomponents (electrodes and electrolytes) and, when the cell is put together, examine the entire structure by ultrasound diagnostics to understand interfacial interactions and evaluate the cell multifunctional efficiency. Non-destructive, low-cost ultrasound techniques will directly probe the device mechanical properties and reveal their changes over time, particularly to identify chemical versus structural degradation mechanisms that must be mitigated to achieve long cycle life and highly durable systems. This project merges the fields of electrochemical storage with material mechanics in convergence research, to deliver structure-processing-property relationships for organic structural supercapacitors and a blueprint for practical fabrication processes compatible with manufacturing in the future. The project will also allow the principal investigator to enhance her research program through partnerships with investigators at other institutions, building expertise to address the challenges of fabricating structural energy storage devices.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.