Hierarchical carbon aerogel modified carbon fiber composites for structural power applications

The desire to reduce overall weight in devices is a key driver for perpetual material development; the ability to combine composites with energy storage functions/capabilities which simultaneously provide structural integrity has the potential to supersede monofunctional components. To achieve this ambition, the multifunctional structure must perform both mechanical and energy storage functions sufficiently, but often there is a trade off in performance which is a significant challenge to overcome. Carbon aerogels have been shown to contribute positively to (electro-chemical double layer) capacitive performance due to an increased surface area in multifunctional carbon fiber based composite electrodes, but have also been shown to reduce mechanical properties; the addition of nanoscale reinforcers, such as carbon nanotubes, graphene or alike, with their superlative electrical and mechanical properties are proposed to address these concerns and create a truly hierarchical structure suitable for structural power applications

Robust single‐walled carbon nanotube‐infiltrated carbon fiber electrodes for structural supercapacitors: from reductive dissolution to high performance devices

Multifunctional electrodes for structural supercapacitors are prepared by vacuum infiltration of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) into woven carbon fibers (CFs); the use of reductive charging chemistry to form nanotubide solutions ensured a high degree of individualization. The route is highly versatile, as shown by comparing four different commercial nanotube feedstocks. In film form, the pure nanotubide networks (“buckypapers”) are highly conductive (up to 2000 S cm−1) with high surface area (>1000 m2 g−1) and great electrochemical performance (capacitance of 101 F g−1, energy density of 27.5 Wh kg−1 and power density of 135 kW kg−1). Uniformly integrating these SWCNT networks throughout the CF fabrics significantly increased electrical conductivity (up to 318 S cm−1), surface area (up to 196 m2 g−1), and in-plane shear properties, all simultaneously. The CNT-infiltrated CFs electrodes exhibited intrinsically high specific energy (2.6–4.2 Wh kg−1) and power (6.0–8.7 kW kg−1) densities in pure 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (EMIM TFSI) electrolyte. Multifunctional structural supercapacitors based on CNT-coated CFs offer a substantial increase in capacitive performance while maintaining the tensile mechanical properties of the as-received CF-based composite. This non-damaging approach to modify CFs with highly graphitic, high surface area nanocarbons provides a new route to structural energy storage systems

Structural supercapacitor composite technology demonstrator

Structural power composites, a class of multifunctional materials, have significant potential to facilitate lightweighting and accelerate widespread electrification in sustainable transportation. In civil aircraft, a bank of supercapacitors can provide power to open the doors in an emergency. Structural power composite fuselage components near the doors could provide this power and eliminate the mass and volume needed for the supercapacitors. To demonstrate this concept, we designed and manufactured a multifunctional component representative of a fuselage rib, which powered the opening and closing of a desktop scale composite aircraft door. This paper provides information about structural supercapacitor technology demonstrators, discusses the fabrication of this demonstrator and concludes by providing an insight into the future challenges that need to be addressed to realise structural power composite components

Manufacture and characterisation of a structural supercapacitor demonstrator

Structural power composites, a class of multifunctional materials, may facilitate lightweighting and accelerate widespread electrification of sustainable transportation. In the example considered in this paper, structural power composite fuselage components could provide power to open aircraft doors in an emergency and thus reduce or eliminate the mass and volume needed for supercapacitors currently mounted on the doors. To demonstrate this concept, an 80 cm long multifunctional composite C-section beam was designed and manufactured, which powered the opening and closing of a desktop-scale composite aircraft door. Twelve structural supercapacitor cells were made, each 30 cm × 15 cm × 0.5 mm, and two stacks of four cells were integrated into the web of the beam by interleaving and encasing them with low-temperature-cure woven carbon fibre/epoxy prepreg. This article culminates by considering the engineering challenges that need to be addressed to realise structural power composite components, particularly in an aerospace context

Manganese dioxide decorated carbon aerogel/carbon fibre composite as a promising electrode for structural supercapacitors

Manganese dioxide electrochemically deposited onto carbon aerogel/carbon fibres (CAG/CF) shows a great potential as an electrode material in multifunctional structural supercapacitors. MnO₂ nanowires grown by a pulse potentiometric method provide a large enhancement in capacitive performance of the carbon electrodes and symmetric supercapacitor devices based on the hybrid material

Reductive processing of single walled carbon nanotubes for high volumetric performance supercapacitors

Intrinsically, single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are excellent candidates for electrochemical double layer supercapacitor (EDLC) electrodes, owing to their high electrical conductivity, high accessible surface area, and high aspect ratio/connectivity, which provide exceptional intrinsic gravimetric energy and power densities. However, in practice, local bundling due to strong intertube van der Waals interactions reduces the effective surface area; at larger scales, the bundling also creates low density networks that limit the volumetric electrochemical performance of practical electrodes. In this study, reductive charging is used to dissolve individual SWCNTs and assemble them to form relatively dense (0.34 g cm−3), thick (38 μm) ‘buckypaper’ electrodes, with high electrical conductivity (>400 S cm−1). Intermediate charging ratios (C : Na = 10 : 1) and carbon concentrations (0.125 M) provide greater SWCNT solubilisation and individualisation, and correlate with maximum volumetric capacitance of 74 F cmelectrode−3 at 10 mV s−1 in 1 M H2SO4. These optimised half-cell electrodes were implemented in full symmetric cell devices, prepared in both aqueous and ionic liquid electrolytes, using a bespoke bacterial cellulose (BC) ultrathin separator (7 microns) to minimize parasitic mass/volume. The full cell performance in ionic liquid reached maximum energy and power densities of 2.6 Wh kg−1 (2.2 mWh cm−3), and 10.2 kW kg−1 (8.3 W cm−3), respectively, normalised by the total mass and volume of device (electrodes, electrolyte, and separator; no separate current collector is needed). The relatively effective transfer of half-cell to full-cell performance is encouraging but could be optimized further in future. Appropriate normalisations for supercapacitor electrodes and devices are discussed in detail. Thin BC-based separators have wide applicability to other electrochemical devices

Current collector design strategies: The route to realising scale-up of structural power composites

Multifunctional structural power composites, which combine mechanical load-bearing and electrochemical energy storage, will transform electric vehicle design. This work focuses on structural supercapacitors, based on carbon aerogel-modified carbon fibre electrodes with copper current collectors. In common with many structural power embodiments, scale-up of these devices is currently limited by large internal resistances and the mass associated with current collection. There is a trade-off between the overall resistive power loss and the additional mass for the current collector material. However, in these devices, mechanical integrity is provided by the structural electrodes, allowing a range of collector designs to be considered. Using finite element simulations, these current collection strategies are explored quantitatively across a range of design space variables. The key conductivity parameters were measured experimentally, using the best existing materials, to inform direct current conduction simulations of the electrode/current collector assembly. For the present device configuration, the performance trade-off is governed by the area of the current collector. The most effective near-term strategy for power loss mitigation lies in reducing the contact resistance; however, improvements can also be obtained by modifying the collector geometry. The findings of this paper can be generalised to other structural power composites and monofunctional energy storage devices, which are relevant in many mass-sensitive electrochemical applications

Conformal carbon nitride thin film inter-active interphase heterojunction with sustainable carbon enhancing sodium storage performance

Sustainable, high-performance carbonaceous anode materials are highly required to bring sodium-ion batteries to a more competitive level. Here, we exploit our expertise to control the deposition of a nm-sized conformal coating of carbon nitride with tunable thickness to improve the electrochemical performance of anode material derived from sodium lignosulfonate. In this way, we significantly enhanced the electrochemical performances of the electrode, such as the first cycle efficiency, rate-capability, and specific capacity. In particular, with a 10 nm homogeneous carbon nitride coating, the specific capacity is extended by more than 30% with respect to the bare carbon material with an extended plateau capacity, which we attribute to a heterojunction effect at the materials' interface. Eventually, the design of (inter)active electrochemical interfaces will be a key step to improve the performance of carbonaceous anodes with a negligible increase in the material weight