PFI-TT: Ultrafast Electrochemical Capacitors for Electronic and Energy Applications

这一创新技术转化伙伴关系(PFI-TT)项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是开发一种超快电化学电容器技术，该技术将作为快速响应的能量装置，用于传感器和通信系统中的脉冲信号产生和脉冲能量存储，或用作过滤电容器，以平滑电子电路中的电流波动。纹波电流滤波的细分市场目前由铝电解电容器(AEC)提供服务。然而，它们体积大、容量小、极性敏感、寿命短，阻碍了电子系统小型化和高级化的发展。此外，由于AEC的响应速度慢，传统的超级电容器不能满足现代传感器和通信系统对快速脉冲发电和脉冲能量存储的需求。参与该项目的一名博士后研究员、一名年轻的助理研究科学家和本科生将接受创业和领导力发展方面的培训，以加快拟议电容器的商业化。超快电容器的研究方向是电极纳米结构的设计和优化、制造工艺的开发以及器件的表征和测试。预计解决这些技术障碍将加快该技术的商业化进程。这个PFI项目将开发新型的交联型碳纳米纤维片，进一步用纳米颗粒锚定，以实现更大的电极表面积和降低的电极电阻。这种方法有望提供高容量密度和高频响应，这是开发高性能超快电化学电容器所必需的。此外，该项目有望实现纳米结构电极的大规模制造。最终，这个PFI项目将降低产品原型的风险，并将先前由NSF资助的基础研究转化为适销对路的产品。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。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is to develop an ultrafast electrochemical capacitor technology, which will act as rapidly responding energy devices for pulse signal generation and pulse energy storage in sensor and communication systems or as filtering capacitors to smooth out current ripples in electronic circuits. The market segment of ripple current filtering is currently served by aluminum electrolyte capacitors (AECs). However, their bulky size, low capacity, polarity sensitivity and poor lifetime prevent the development of miniaturized and advanced electronic systems. In addition, due to AECs' slow response, conventional supercapacitors do not address the need for fast pulse power generation and pulsed energy storage in modern sensors and communication systems. A postdoctoral researcher, a young assistant research scientist and undergraduate students participating in this project will be trained in entrepreneurship and leadership development to accelerate the commercialization of the proposed capacitors. The proposed research on ultrafast capacitors is aimed at electrode nanostructure design and optimization, fabrication process development, and device characterization and testing. It is expected that addressing these technical hurdles will accelerate the commercialization of the technology. This PFI project will develop novel crosslinked carbon nanofiber sheets, which are further anchored with nanoparticles to achieve both a large electrode surface area and a reduced electrode resistance. This approach is expected to deliver large capacitance density and a high frequency response which are required to develop high-performance ultrafast electrochemical capacitors. In addition, the project is expected to enable large-scale manufacturing of nanostructured electrodes. Ultimately, this PFI project will de-risk product prototyping and translate prior NSF-funded fundamental research into marketable products.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.