Xidex WHITE PAPER November 11, 2013

QUICK-RECHARGE POWER PACKS FOR

MOBILE & WEARABLE ELECTRONICS
Supercapacitors Optimized for Ultra-High Energy Density can replace batteries by enabling quick-
recharge power packs for use with mobile and wearable electronics that provide:

 Recharge in Minutes or Seconds vs. Hours

 Pulse Power for Intense Pulsed Light & Transient RF
 Wide Range of Pulse Widths & Duty Cycles

By establishing a new, disruptive technology path to supercapacitors with unprecedented energy density,
Xidex Corporation is offering DoD a window of opportunity to support the demanding mission
requirements of its constituents while at the same time enabling creation of game-changing commercial
opportunities involving quick-recharge energy storage. Xidex is currently seeking DoD partners who are
in a position to identify high-priority applications and help support development of pilot production
operations.

The Challenge of Providing Quick-Recharge Power for Mobile and Wearable Electronics – Today’s
warfighter is highly dependent upon a variety of electronic devices for survival in the field and batteries
are currently used to supply the required power. Unfortunately however, the logistics involved in
maintaining an adequate supply of batteries to support tactical operations is extremely difficult.
Integrated battery systems built into
ballistic vests have been developed
which mitigate the logistics burden
associated with supply and recharging
of commercial off-the-shelf batteries
with different form and fit. However,
the time required to recharge either
individual batteries or integrated
battery systems remains as an
unresolved problem. Short missions
typically require around 100 Wh and
longer missions require up to 200 Wh,
as illustrated in Figure 1. Recharge
times range from 1-3 hours, during
which the equipment is unavailable for Figure 1: Power and Energy Requirements
use. Other mobile electronics such as
laptop computers, mobile phones, portable navigation devices and personal digital assistants require lower
energy and power levels, as shown in Figure 1, but still typically require hours to recharge.

Supercapacitors are potentially the ideal candidate to replace batteries with quick-recharge power packs
because of their comparatively high power density. Batteries also suffer from limited lifetimes of
hundreds to thousands of charge-discharge cycles, whereas supercapacitors can provide up to millions of
charge-discharge cycles. The value power packs for commercial mobile and wearable electronics that can
be recharged in minutes or seconds vs. hours is enormous, being realized in terms of increased device
availability and reduced need for spare batteries. The value for the warfighter is even greater given the
value of maintaining systems in continuous operation and the fact that devices used in tactical operations
cannot be in use while being recharged. However, existing supercapacitor technologies still lack the

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ultra-high energy density needed to match volume and weight limitations comparable to those of
advanced batteries.

The unique combination of demonstrated technologies shown in Figure 2 has been identified for
fabrication of supercapacitors with energy density matching or exceeding that of advanced battery
technologies while at the same time retaining the high power density achievable with capacitors which do
not rely on slow chemical phase transformations to store energy. Graphene/Carbon Nanotube (G/CNT)
technology recently demonstrated by the Tour Group at Rice University and available for licensing to
Xidex, combined with Xidex’s commercially oriented experience with nanodevice development and
manufacturing provides the starting point. G/CNT hybrid electrodes, illustrated in Figure 3, exhibit ultra-
high conductivity which is enabled by seamless graphene/nanotube junctions at the interface between the
different carbon allotropic forms. The enhanced conductivity of the graphene/CNT junction reduces
equivalent series resistance and provides a corresponding increase in the number of charge/discharge
cycles and extended useful lifetime.

Figure 2: Technology Path to Ultra-High Energy Density

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Seamless
Nanotube/Graphene
Junctions

Figure 3: Graphene/Carbon Nanotube (G/CNT) technology recently demonstrated by the

Tour Group at Rice University and available for licensing to Xidex

Fast Reversible Redox - Unlike competing two-dimensional material systems such as laser-scribed
graphene, and onion-like carbon, G/CNT hybrid electrodes are three-dimensional, consisting of vertically
aligned CNTs which form a patterned carpet. This three-dimensional architecture provides an ideal
substrate for deposition of material selected for its
ability to support fast, reversible reduction-oxidation
(redox) reactions. By involving only electron
transfer, without slow chemical phase changes, this
type of redox reaction has been shown to add
pseudocapance which acts in parallel with electric
double layer capacitance, thereby increasing energy
storage capacity up to two orders of magnitude.

Enhanced Electrode Area - A further increase in

energy storage capacity is achievable by enhancing
the surface area of the carbon based electrodes by
unzipping the CNTs longitudinally to split the
vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) carpets
into a carpet of partially split multi-wall CNTs and
graphene nanoribbons (GNRs). The unzipping of the
CNT carpet increases the surface area accessible to
electrolyte ions. A method of unzipping the CNTs
longitudinally with potassium vapor recently
reported by the Tour group and available for
licensing to Xidex is shown in 4. This method has
been shown to increase the specific capacitance, and
therefore the energy density, by a factor of about 4 .
The resulting G/CNT hybrid electrode system with
fast, reversible redox and enhanced electrode area
will be able to provide unprecedented energy density
Figure 4: Process for splitting a VACNT carpet
and SEM characterization. (a) Schematic
illustration of splitting VACNT carpet by
potassium atom intercalation and subsequent
splitting. The middle layer in light pink represents
the Al2O3 and Fe film, and the bottom layer in
light gray represents the SiO2 substrate. (b and c)
SEM images of the VA-CNT carpets before and
after splitting, respectively, at low magnification.
(d and e) SEM images of the VA-CNT carpets
before and after splitting, respectively, at higher
magnification.

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of around 400 Wh/L, thus exceeding leading Li-Ion battery technologies while retaining the extremely
high power density that is typical of capacitors vs. batteries. The ultra-high energy density will enable
supercapacitors to meet weight and volume requirements similar to those established for batteries whereas
competing capacitor technologies would require prohibitively high weight and volume to store the same
amount of energy. The ultra-high power density of supercapacitors will reduce recharge times to minutes
or seconds, vs. hours to tens of hours for batteries.

Business Model - Innovative methods transferred from

academic partners will build on over a decade of work by Xidex
with CNT-based nanodevices for commercial applications,
including extensive experience with growth of patterned carbon
nanotube (CNT) carpets, as shown in Figure 5. Historically,
Xidex is also one of the first groups to propose (January 2009)
the use of on-plane interdigitated CNT electrodes for
supercapacitors. Xidex has also demonstrated supercapacitors
with CNT carpets grown on mesh substrates and packaged as
coin cells. Early prototypes of these coin cell devices developed
with SBIR funding are still functioning four years later. CNT
carpets grown on mesh substrates can be scaled to larger form
factors using rollable and stackable architectures.
Figure 5: Patterned Carbon
Supercapacitors will be commercialized as new products
Nanotube Carpet Fabricated
targeted for entry into high-priority military and commercial
by Xidex
markets. Supercapacitors are presently an approximate $400
million world market that occupies the space between the $95 billion global battery market and the $17
billion global capacitor market. Heretofore, supercapacitors have been limited to market opportunities on
platforms where there is a need for rapid charge/discharge, but where volumetric energy density is not a
major concern. Introduction of supercapacitors with ultra-high energy density will constitute a disruptive
technology, enabling a breakaway from the already crowded supercapacitor vendor population and
establishment of a new high-growth business opportunity. Sales growth will be accomplished by
replacing batteries and capturing a share of projected growth in the electronics segment of the existing
supercapacitor market. Market entry will require pilot production of packaged devices for technology
demonstration and market testing, followed by production to the point of positive cash flow of products
serving the first identified niche markets. A projected time line is shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6: Time Line for Pilot Production and Market entry

Contact: Xidex Corporation, 8906 Wall Street, Suite 703, Austin TX 78754. Phone: (512) 339-0608.
Web: www.xidex.com, Dr. Vladimir Mancevski, CTO: vam@xidex.com, Dr. Paul McClure, CEO:
pfm@xidex.com, Dr. E. Hal Bogardus, Program Development: hal@xidex.com.