Dual-Function Carbon Composite Electrodes for Multifunctional Structural Sandwich Panels Incorporating Ultracapacitor Elements as Sandwich Core

"Low-mass, highly optimized power systems are critical to the success of advanced missile defense systems and HEVs. Augmenting primary power sources like fuel cells, batteries or internal combustion engines with ultracapacitors promises to reduce theirsize, but the mass and volume of conventional high-power ultracaps is still substantial. Boundless' CapaciCoreTM High-Power Multifunctional Ultracapacitor Panel offers a unique and innovative solution to this problem by replacing missile or vehiclestructure with high-performance, load-bearing carbon composite electrodes. High specific power and high power density is achieved by:¿ Spreading capacitor active material in very thin layers relative to the thickness of the bulk current collector, yielding low resistive losses and minimizing heat generation at high discharge rates.¿ Constructing capacitor electrodes in a corrugated configuration and spreading them out within a large volume, forming cooling channels adjacent to heat sources.¿ Using carbon composite electrodes for structural support as well as for energy storage, enabling high ratios of current collector to active material without excessive mass.¿ Replacing the inert structure with a structural ultracapacitor, allowing the ultracapacitor mass to be discounted to account for structural utility, further enhancing effective specific power. Since the unique CapaciCoreTM multifunctional ultracapacitor becomes part of the