Doubling Electrodes’ Storage Capacity

The above image depicts a polymer material with 20 layers of carbon nanotubes assembled on its surface. Image courtesy: Seung Woo Lee / Journal of the American Chemical Society

A new technique for making thin films of multi­walled carbon nanotubes yields a material with low electrical resistance that can store roughly 160 Farads of electrical charge per gram. That level of storage capacity is more than twice than that of other carbon nanotube films and an order of magnitude higher than that of conventional carbon materials.

Developed by the Hammond Research Group at MIT, the materials potentially could be used in an array of applications including medical implants. As a result of their high electrical storage capacity and ability to discharge quickly, the films are also a good candidate for use in supercapacitors. And because researchers can control the thickness and porosity of the material, they can customise its electrical properties for specific applications.

To construct the material, the researchers used surface functionalisation to develop thin films with positive and negative charges. The difference in charge creates electrostatic attraction, causing the nanotubes to cling to one another without chemical binders.

The scientists plan on modifying the nanotubes so that the films can store even more charge.

More information is available on the research from the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Tags: carbon nanotubes, electrodes, Hammond Research Group, MIT, polymer