Highly-controllable, Dense Carbon Nanotube Arrays for Ultracapacitor Applications

The Navy and the U.S. Military as a whole will be challenged to find innovative solutions to ever-rising peak power demands stemming from the introduction of electricity-driven vessels and new directed energy weapons in the coming decade. Circuit protection from voltage variation is also a concern both on large and miniaturized scales. To address these needs, ADA Technologies, Inc. (ADA), in collaboration with Texas A & M University, propose the development of a highly controllable and scalable aligned CNT arrays as ultracapacitor electrodes in combination with ionic liquid gel polymer electrolytes (ILGPEs). Combining these high-surface area, mesoporous electrodes with new optimized ILGPEs having wide electrochemical window, and negligible electrolyte depletion will result in capacitors with excellent energy and power density. Moreover, the highly precise CNT array synthesis process developed here will also be directly applicable to other applications such as nanoscale electronics and sensors.