Structural Supercapacitors for Energy Storage in Airframe Components

As the electrification revolution is underway to combat climate change, one technical hurdle limitsnbsp;the progress, namely the ability to store large amount of electrical energy. Even though therenbsp;has been a huge improvement in energy density for batteries in the last decade, it is still notnbsp;enough to provide adequate power to weight-sensitive applications aerospace applications. There isnbsp;significantnbsp;interest in developing breakthrough technologies that can improve the energy density of a system as this is one of the key to realizing the vision of widespread commercialization ofnbsp;nbsp;electric propulsion-based aircrafts. Structural supercapacitors based on multifunctional composite laminates can alleviate this technical hurdle by using part of the structure to store additional energy.This SBIR Phase IInbsp;project will build on the success of Phase I effort wherenbsp;a novel solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) was developed using an ionic polymer and a nano-scale filler.nbsp;This SPE posses excellent room temperature ionic conductivity and mechanical integrity required for developing structural supercapacitors. The Phase I effort demonstrated that the developed SPE, when used as matrix material, can be utilized to fabricate carbon-fiber-composite-based structural supercapacitor. In Phase II, this structural supercapacitor design will be improved to develop a structural supercapacitor system with superior energy density and specific modulus. The research effort will be governed by the challenge of achievingnbsp;a multifunctional efficiency value of greater than unity that is required for achieving a mass-saving design. If successful, thisnbsp;Phase II effort will provide a key enabling technology for electrified aircrafts.