High Power Electrolytic Ultracapacitors Based on Single-Wall Nanotubes

In this Phase II effort, the Foster-Miller team will expand upon the outstanding results achieved during Phase I, exploiting the benefits of nanotechnology to develop single wall carbon nanotube (SWNT)-based electrolytic ultracapacitors having greatly improved power delivery capability over current ultracapacitors. During the Phase I effort, Foster-Miller demonstrated that the use of SWNTs in an ultracapacitor structure can increase the power delivery capabilities by three orders of magnitude over conventional ultracapacitors. This performance level will establish SWNT ultracapacitor technology as the ideal power source for Directed Energy Weapon (DEW) systems requiring high (Megawatt) power pulses delivered in the hundreds of microsecond to millisecond time range. These DEW systems, being developed for the Army under the Future Combat Systems (FCS) program, require extremely compact, high capacity, and quick discharging/recharging energy storage systems to be successful. The ultracapacitor under development here has the most desirable combination of properties for these applications. The Phase II program will refine the ultacapacitor system initially investigated in Phase I, and then proceed to design and test small scale devices, leading up to design, construction and testing of a prototype 1 kJ SWNT-based ultracapacitor delivering 200 kW/kg for technology transition into selected FCS DEW systems. (P-030467)