Electrochemical double layer capacitor electrodes using aligned carbon nanotubes grown directly on metals

Abstract

We report on the fabrication of electrochemical double layer capacitor (EDLC) electrodes with aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) grown directly on conductive substrates using an air assisted chemical vapor deposition technique. The fabricated EDLCs showed very small equivalent series resistances (approximately few hundreds of mOmega), a direct consequence of integrating CNTs with metal current collectors. The specific capacitance of the CNTs used for EDLC electrodes increased with decreasing CNT lengths and ranged from 10.75 F g(-1) to 21.57 F g(-1) with maximum energy and power density ranging from 2.3 to 5.4 Wh kg(-1) and 19.6 to 35.4 kW kg(-1), respectively. These results indicate that the integrated CNT electrodes fabricated using a simple single step process hold significant promise in applications related to electrochemical energy storage.