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| Texas NanoEnergy Collaborative |
Principal Investigator
T.J. Wainerdi
Quantum Wired, LLC
Project Period: 06/01/2007 - 01/15/2008
Quantum Wired intends to demonstrate the technical feasibility of a solid state supercapacitor created by coating vertical arrays of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT) with high dielectric metal oxides. These robust high power density capacitors are desirable for a variety of commercial and military applications where compact power storage for rapid delivery is required and where a large number of charge-discharge cycles are expected over the device lifetime. Such applications range from cell-phone flash power, hybrid vehicle acceleration, laptop power storage, to military weaponry.
Quantum Wired high-energy and high-power density, solid state supercapacitor technology will enable effective energy management critical to the proposed Constellation systems. In several phases of the missions, electrical power will be provided by relatively low-average-power systems such as fuel cells and solar arrays that have limited instantaneous power capability. Some operational requirements such as electromechanical actuators and burst RF power transmission also require substantial electrical power for short time periods. In addition, there are NASA applications for supercapacitors anticipated to require operation in extreme environments such as vacuum and widely varying temperatures. It should be specifically noted that the proposed solid state supercapacitor technology will be particularly well suited to these types of extreme environmental conditions.
The solid state geometry will also allow the device to undergo significant mechanical shock without deleterious effects and is not in danger of leaking electrolyte. Furthermore these capacitors will have power coupling behavior characteristic of metal oxide capacitors rather than electrolytic capacitors so that significantly greater performance can be expected than for the currently studied electrochemical double-layer nanotube supercapacitors.
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| Page Updated/Reviewed: 02/27/2008 8:57 AM |
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