Vanadium pentoxide is an attractive material for energy storage due to its low cost and multiple redox states. However, adoption of the material for these applications is hampered by its low ionic and electronic conductivity. One approach to address this issue is to reduce the characteristic dimension to nanometer range and accompanied reduction of transport resistance. In this study, supercritical carbon dioxide was employed for the deposition of nanoscale V2O5 onto carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to form hybrid nanostructures. The CNTs are in the form of thin film (buckypaper) and the resulting composites are free standing binder-free electrodes ready for use.  Taking advantage of the unique properties of the supercritical fluid novel such as relatively high density, high diffusity and zero surface tension, fast deposition can proceed at low temperature and high uniformity of the deposited material can be achieved within the nano-sized pores of the buckypaper. A sc(CO2) deposition system was developed and a series of deposition study was conducted. The morphology, composition and uniformity of the fabricated composite electrodes were studied.  Excellent pseudo-capacitance performance and the Faradaic resistivity of the composite in aqueous electrolyte was observed and studied in detail.

Reactive deposition of vanadium oxide within CNT buckypaper in supercritical fluid CO2 for energy storage electrodes

245th National Meeting (2013)

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