HIGH SURFACE AREA ELECTRODE MATERIALS

This proposal concerns the development new high surface area (HSA) electrode materials that can aid the technological advances of batteries and fuel cells. HSA electrodes can significantly increase the power-density of batteries and fuel cells by enhancing the heterogeneous electrochemical reaction rate and concurrently reducing the size and weight of devices. We propose a novel approach for the fabrication of HSA electrode material using UV-Visible transparent, extremely light, and highly porous aerogels. To demonstrate the feasibility of this project, we plan to prepare HSA nickel electrodes for Ni-based rechargeable batteris and HSA vitreous carbon electrodes with Pt or Pd catalysts for fuel cell applications.