Production of carbon nanotubes by PECVD and their applications to supercapacitors

Màster en Nanociència i NanotecnologiaPlasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) is a versatile technique to obtain vertically dense-aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) at lower temperatures than chemical vapor deposition (CVD). In this work, we used magnetron sputtering to deposit iron layer as a catalyst on silicon wafers. After that, radio frequency (rf) assisted PECVD reactor was used to grow CNTs. They were treated with water plasma and finally covered by MnO2 as dielectric layer in order to use CNTs as electrode for supercapacitors. Optimization of annealing time, reaction time and temperature, water plasma time and MnO2 deposition time were performed to find appropriate conditions to improve the characteristics of supercapacitors. SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy), TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy), AFM (Atomic Force Microscopy) and Raman spectroscopy were used to characterize obtained electrodes

Accurate supercapacitor modeling for energy-harvesting wireless sensor nodes

Supercapacitors are often used in energy-harvesting wireless sensor nodes (EH-WSNs) to store harvested energy. Until now, research into the use of supercapacitors in EH-WSNs has considered them to be ideal or over-simplified, with non-ideal behavior attributed to substantial leakage currents. In this brief, we show that observations previously attributed to leakage are predominantly due to redistribution of charge inside the supercapacitor. We confirm this hypothesis through the development of a circuit-based model which accurately represents non-ideal behavior. The model correlates well with practical validations representing the operation of an EH-WSN, and allows behavior to be simulated over long periods

Printable magnesium ion quasi-solid-state asymmetric supercapacitors for flexible solar-charging integrated units.

Wearable and portable self-powered units have stimulated considerable attention in both the scientific and technological realms. However, their innovative development is still limited by inefficient bulky connections between functional modules, incompatible energy storage systems with poor cycling stability, and real safety concerns. Herein, we demonstrate a flexible solar-charging integrated unit based on the design of printed magnesium ion aqueous asymmetric supercapacitors. This power unit exhibits excellent mechanical robustness, high photo-charging cycling stability (98.7% capacitance retention after 100 cycles), excellent overall energy conversion and storage efficiency (ηoverall = 17.57%), and outstanding input current tolerance. In addition, the Mg ion quasi-solid-state asymmetric supercapacitors show high energy density up to 13.1 mWh cm-3 via pseudocapacitive ion storage as investigated by an operando X-ray diffraction technique. The findings pave a practical route toward the design of future self-powered systems affording favorable safety, long life, and high energy

Biocompatible Mesoporous Hollow Carbon Nanocapsules for High Performance Supercapacitors.

A facile and general method for the controllable synthesis of N-doped hollow mesoporous carbon nanocapsules (NHCNCs) with four different geometries has been developed. The spheres (NHCNC-1), low-concaves (NHCNC-2), semi-concaves (NHCNC-3) and wrinkles (NHCNC-4) shaped samples were prepared and systematically investigated to understand the structural effects of hollow particles on their supercapacitor performances. Compared with the other three different shaped samples (NHCNC-1, NHCNC-2, and NHCNC-4), the as-synthesized semi-concave structured NHCNC-3 demonstrated excellent performance with high gravimetric capacitance of 326 F g-1 (419 F cm-3) and ultra-stable cycling stability (96.6% after 5000 cycles). The outstanding performances achieved are attributed to the unique semi-concave structure, high specific surface area (1400 m2 g-1), hierarchical porosity, high packing density (1.41 g cm-3) and high nitrogen (N) content (up to 3.73%) of the new materials. These carbon nanocapsules with tailorable structures and properties enable them as outstanding carriers and platforms for various emerging applications, such as nanoscale chemical reactors, catalysis, batteries, solar energy harvest, gas storage and so on. In addition, these novel carbons have negligible cytotoxicity and high biocompatibility for human cells, promising a wide range of bio applications, such as biomaterials, drug delivery, biomedicine, biotherapy and bioelectronic devices