Carbon Nanotube-Based Ultracapacitors for High Pulse - Power Applications

Ultracapacitors are an emerging technology that have already found use in high pulse-power applications, being able to deliver tens or hundreds of kJ of energy over thousands of deep-discharge cycles from a package roughly a quarter cubic foot in size. Recently, Mainstream demonstrated a new proprietary method of fabricating carbon nanotubes (CNTs) that allowed lithium-ion batteries with reversible discharge capacities of more than an order of magnitude greater than that of normal carbonaceous electrodes and for a fraction of the cost of current CNT production techniques. This same process can be used to make extremely high power density ultracapacitors that are over an order of magnitude better than the conventional devices outlined above, resulting in an small, light-weight, and inexpensive technology that is robust and environmentally friendly. It is estimated that the core energy storage system necessary to deliver the 8 MJ required by the solicitation's REML (four 2 MJ pulses) will be less than 30 cubic feet in size. In view of Mainstream's long-term commitment to the design and development of improved nanotube technology and our past record of successful performance and SBIR commercialization, we believe funding of this Phase I is warranted.