Fabrication technology to increase surface area of ionomer membrane material and its application towards high surface area electric double-layer capacitors

Abstract

An application friendly technique to increase the surface area of the ionomer membrane such as Aquivion™ has been developed. By utilizing existing micro-fabrication technologies, square pillars were fabricated onto glass and silicon substrates. In combination with a low cost heat press, the glass and silicon stamps were used to successfully hot emboss micro-features onto the ionomer membrane. Consequently, the surface area of the Aquivion™ membrane was drastically increased enabling potential improvement of sensing and energy storage technologies. Preliminary results show successful fabrication of devices with systematic higher surface area and an improved capacitance.