This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project's objective is to prepare an improved ultracapacitors based on carbon electrodes. Ultracapacitors, because of their high rate of charge and discharge, are prime candidates for use as the load-leveling power source in electric vehicles. The most important parameter in determining the power and energy density of a carbon-based ultracapacitor is the amount of surface area accessible to the electrolyte, which is primarily determined by the pore size distribution. The major performance problem is pores that are too small for electrolyte access. TDA Research, Inc. (TDA) has developed methods to prepare monolithic porous carbons with the correct pore size distribution for use in ultracapacitors. This process is considerably simpler than previous methods and uses low-cost feedstocks and processing steps, which greatly lowers the production cost. This combination of improvements should allow us to attain the cost/performance targets that will make ultracapacitors commercially viable power sources. In Phase 1, TDA, with the assistance of the Power Sources Group at Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia), will prepare cells to evaluate the power and energy densities attainable with the new materials, and estimate their cost in large scale production. In addition to use as the load-leveling power source in electric vehicles, improved ultracapacitors would be more cost effective in current markets (calculators, watches and electric razors), emerging communications markets (cellular telephones and digital communicators) and premium power markets (clean power/filters and uninterrupted power sources). ??_Ã>Â¥ ??%% Ã?Â¥Ã>? ??? ,>??%Ã?Àà ? ¥©à ?©Ã>?_Ã>?> ?> ?¥¢ ?Ã?Ã%??_Ã>Â¥/% /¢?Ã?¥¢
