Electrochemical capacitor
First Claim
1. An electrochemical capacitor, comprising an ionically conductive polymer thin film, liquid electrolyte retained in said thin film, and thin flexible active electrode layers constituting an anode and a cathode composed of energy dense material of high intrinsic surface area positioned at either side of said thin film to tightly sandwich said electrolyte-retaining thin film therebetween.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An electrochemical capacitor includes an ionically conductive polymer thin film, a liquid electrolyte absorbed in the polymer thin film, and thin flexible active electrode layers constituting anode and cathode composed of energy dense material of high intrinsic surface area positioned at either side of the electrolyte-retaining polymer thin film to tightly sandwich it between the electrode layers. In one embodiment, the capacitor includes a polymer electrolyte in which a polymer thin film is cast from the base polymer and impregnated with the electrolyte solution, which contains a salt for ionic conduction. In another embodiment, the base polymer material includes an ionically conducting polymer, a perfluorocarbon polymer backbone to which sulfonic acid sites are permanently anchored. The energy dense material of the electrode layers may be physically mixed with battery active material to enhance the capacity and discharge time of the capacitor. In fabrication, the electrode material is reduced to particle size suitable for application to a thin film metallized polymer substrate, and applied directly and adherently on opposite sides of the substrate by injection, spraying, or evaporation, and a final thin flexible film of each electrode is formed with a desired thickness by use of rods if a slurry, or by controlling the extent of spray or evaporation, followed by curing. In another embodiment, the electrode elements are laminated directly onto opposite sides of a single- or double-metallized polymer substrate.
203 Citations
31 Claims
- 1. An electrochemical capacitor, comprising an ionically conductive polymer thin film, liquid electrolyte retained in said thin film, and thin flexible active electrode layers constituting an anode and a cathode composed of energy dense material of high intrinsic surface area positioned at either side of said thin film to tightly sandwich said electrolyte-retaining thin film therebetween.
- 4. An electrochemical capacitor, comprising an ionically conductive polymer thin film, a liquid electrolyte retained in said thin film, and thin flexible active electrolyte layers constituting an anode and a cathode composed or energy dense material of high intrinsic surface area positioned at either side of said thin film to tightly sandwich said electrolyte-retaining thin film therebetween, wherein said energy dense material consists of at least one first group material possessing properties of high exchange current density, intrinsically high surface area, and high charge capacity in combination with at least one second group material essentially having exceptionally high redox capacity.
-
10. A thin film electrochemical capacitor, comprising a resilient flexible ionically conductive polymeric thin film including a base polymer with inorganic filler dispersed therein to increase surface area and porosity of said polymeric thin film;
- a liquid electrolyte composed of liquid polymer, organic solvent electrolyte and a salt in solution impregnated in said polymeric thin film to form a gelled thin film polymer electrolyte; and
a pair of spaced-apart flexible thin film electrodes, each of said electrodes adhered to a current collector thereon, wherein said polymeric thin film is tightly sandwiched between said pair of thin film electrodes. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
- a liquid electrolyte composed of liquid polymer, organic solvent electrolyte and a salt in solution impregnated in said polymeric thin film to form a gelled thin film polymer electrolyte; and
-
19. A thin film electrochemical capacitor, comprising a resilient flexible ionically conductive polymeric electrolyte thin film including a base polymer with inorganic filler dispersed therein to increase surface area and porosity of said polymeric thin film;
- a liquid electrolyte composed of liquid polymer, organic solvent electrolyte and a salt in solution impregnated in said polymeric thin film; and
a pair of spaced-apart flexible thin film electrodes, each of said electrodes adhered to a current collector thereon, wherein said polymeric electrolyte thin film is tightly sandwiched between said pair of thin film electrodes, wherein each said current collector is a metallized polymer current collector comprising a polymer substrate about 0.5-50 μ
m thick and a metallization layer up to 1 μ
m thick overlying at least a portion of said polymer substrate. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
- a liquid electrolyte composed of liquid polymer, organic solvent electrolyte and a salt in solution impregnated in said polymeric thin film; and
-
26. A thin film electrochemical capacitor, comprising a resilient flexible ionically conductive polymeric electrolyte thin film including a base polymer with inorganic filler dispersed therein to increase surface area and porosity of said polymeric thin film;
- a liquid electrolyte composed of liquid polymer, organic solvent electrolyte and a salt in solution impregnated in said polymeric thin film; and
a pair of spaced-apart flexible thin film electrodes, each of said electrodes adhered to a current collector thereon, wherein said polymeric electrolyte thin film is tightly sandwiched between said pair of thin film electrodes, wherein each of said thin film electrodes comprises a layer of polymer material, and a low resistance metallization layer having a conductivity in a range from about 0.01 ohm per square to about 1 ohm per square overlying and adhered to a side of said layer of polymer material. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
- a liquid electrolyte composed of liquid polymer, organic solvent electrolyte and a salt in solution impregnated in said polymeric thin film; and
Specification