High energy density nanocomposite capacitors using non-ferroelectric nanowires

A high energy density nanocomposite capacitor is fabricated by incorporating high aspect ratio functionalized TiO2 nanowires (NWs) into a polyvinylidene-fluoride matrix. These nanocomposites exhibited energy density as high as 12.4 J/cc at 450MV/m, which is nine times larger than commercial biaxially oriented polypropylene polypropylene capacitors (1.2 J/cc at 640MV/m). Also, the power density can reach 1.77 MW/cc with a discharge speed of 2.89 mu s. The results presented here demonstrate that nanowires can be used to develop nanocomposite capacitors with high energy density and fast discharge speed for future pulsed-power applications. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4792513]