FastCAP SYSTEMS uses nanotechnology to improve an energy storage device called an ultracapacitor…
FastCAP uses tiny carbon nanotubes to improve an energy storage device called an ultracapacitor. Unlike batteries, which store energy via chemical reactions, ultracapacitors store energy in electric fields. The devices possess enormous advantages over conventional battery technologies, including extremely long lifespans (over a million cycles, as compared to 10,000 for conventional batteries), unsurpassed ruggedness and durability, and low environmental impact due to their non-toxic internal components. However, ultracapacitors have fallen short of batteries in one key metric: energy density (energy density is a measure of how big or heavy a battery or capacitor needs to be to store a particular amount of energy). FastCAP's ultracapacitor technology addresses this key metric by improving the internal electrode structure and processes to produce them – improvements which allow us to combine the benefits of ultracapacitors and conventional batteries into one device, with none of the drawbacks of either technology.Team Member Perspective: Nicolo - Product Engineer
"FastCAP has developed a method of producing its ultracapacitors inexpensively, bringing the cost of our ultracapacitor down to 1/4th of the cost of ultracapacitors currently on the market. These improvements will enable widespread deployment of ultracaps into markets where they had not been technologically or economically feasible before – into markets, like vehicles, where they will have a big impact on fuel savings."HOW DOES IT WORK?
Today's ultracapacitors use electrodes made of activated carbon. The carbon is porous, so it has lots of surface area for collecting charged particles. But the pores are irregular in shape, so the charged particles bump around as they move in and out of the electrode. This effect limits the efficiency of today's ultracapacitors. Moreover, the processes for producing those electrodes limit the achievable voltage and energy density of today's ultracapacitors.
FastCAP's ultracapacitor integrates patent-pending electrodes made with vertically aligned carbon nanotubes, each one thirty-thousandth the width of a single human hair. The regular shape and alignment of the nanotubes makes a very efficient and high surface area electrode, and the process for making the nanotube electrodes yields an increased capability to withstand voltage. FastCAP's ultracapacitors retain and even improve upon the benefits of today's ultracapacitors, while adding the high energy density benefit that batteries have historically monopolized.
