US Government as Represented by the Secretary of the Army

James F Snyder

Eric Dean Wetzel

Robert Hansbrough Carter

A structural electrochemical capacitor that includes at least one pair of electrodes and a solid electrolytic material disposed between the electrodes which, taken collectively, have sufficient mechanical strength to allow the electrochemical capacitor to be used as a structural component of an article of manufacture is described. The present invention also describes a method of capacitively storing electrical energy and conserving mass and/or volume in a device that includes the steps of: fabricating portions of the structure of a device with high-strength structural electrochemical capacitor that includes at least one pair of electrodes and a body of solid electrolytic material disposed between said electrodes wherein the body of solid electrolytic material accounts for a majority of the mass of a structural element or a majority of the volume of a structural element in the device.

Method for forming a structural electrochemical capacitor

Structural electrochemical capacitor

A structural battery includes an anode, cathode and electrolyte which, taken collectively, have sufficient mechanical strength to allow the battery to be used as a structural component of an article of manufacture. The combined anode, cathode and electrolyte have a stiffness between 10 MPa-1000 GPa, and in certain instances have a stiffness between 50 MPa-100 GPa. Also disclosed are solid electrolytes which may be used in structural batteries. The electrolytes are comprised of salts dissolved in a solvent such as a body of polymeric material. The electrolyte has good ionic conductivity and good mechanical properties. The solid electrolyte may be comprised of a body of uncrosslinked polymer or an at least partially crosslinked polymer such as a multifunctional polymer having segments comprised of linear resins and segments comprised of crosslinking resins. Also disclosed are methods for manufacturing the structural batteries.

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Havre de Grace, MD, United States of America

James F Snyder