SBIR Phase II: Cost Competitive High Temperature Film Capacitors with Three-Phase Nanocomposites

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project would be commercialization of a new high temperature energy storage technology that can enable the broad adoption of advanced high-efficient power management systems in renewable energy sections. This project will develop cost-competitive advanced electrostatic capacitors that are critical components in many pulsed power and power electronics. These advanced capacitors will be able to minimize the capacitor size, weight and reduce the material and maintenance cost of power inverters in hybrid and plug-in electric vehicles, smart grid, oil/gas/geothermal down-hole drilling and exploration, wind turbine generators, grid-tied photovoltaic, and many other energy and military systems. The success of this project will facilitate the broad adoption of advanced energy efficient switch technologies. The technical objectives of this Phase II research project are to develop and commercialize advanced film capacitors with high energy density, high power density, and high thermal stability. Current dc bus capacitors in many medium and high power systems are dominated by polypropylene (PP) film capacitors which were developed more than 60 years ago and they have low thermal stability. This project will develop prototype capacitors using proprietary three-component nanodielectric compositions combining high thermal stability, high dielectric constant, low dielectric loss, as well as low cost. The success of this project is built upon our integrated and interdisciplinary approach that combines integrated computational material engineering (ICME/EDV), nanodielectric material with balanced thermal, electrical, and mechanical performance, inexpensive film production, and advanced capacitor design.