Abstract
Florida International University (FIU) is pursuing business partners interested in commercializing Electronically Activated C-MEMS Electrodes for On-chip Micro Super-capacitors as a very promising method for fabricating electrochemical micro-capacitors. Carbon micro-electrode arrays for use in micro-capacitors are fabricated using the carbon microelectromechanical system (C-MEMS) technique. This technique employs electrochemical activation in order to improve the capacitive behavior of carbon micro-electrode arrays. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge-discharge results indicated that electrochemical activation effectively increases the capacitance of micro-electrode arrays by as many as three orders of magnitudes. Specific geometric capacitance reaching as high as 7mFcm-2 at a scan rate of 5mVs-1 has been observed with just 30 minutes of electrochemical activation. In addition after 1000 CV cycles the capacitance loss is less than 13 percent. This indicates that electrochemically activated C-MEMS micro-electrode arrays are promising candidates for on chip electrochemical micro-capacitors. FIU inventors have successfully demonstrated that C-MEMS fabricated micro-electrodes are potentially capable of delivering energy storage solutions for micro-devices. In addition fabrication of higher aspect ratio micro-electrodes could increase the device’s surface area while maintaining a desirable in the limited footprint. Other future developments include fabrication of high aspect ratio 3D electrodes, which would increase adhesion of carbon current collectors to the substrate, and optimizing the conditions of electrochemical activation.
Benefit
For the first time C-MEMS electrodes have been successfully activated using electrochemical activationActivated C-MEMS electrodes provide a higher specific capacitance compared to non-activated C-MEMSThree dimensional C-MEMS electrodes provide more efficient surface area compared to conventional thin film electrodesAdditionally, the C-MEMS technique is compatible with other microfabrication techniques
Market Application
Can be used as three dimensional electrodes for on-chip electrochemical micro-supercapacitorsThe technology has specific applications in the fields of micro-power sources and energy storage
Brochure
