Today many applications require new effective approaches in energy delivery on demand. Supercapacitors are viewed as essential energy storage devices that can continuously provide quick energy. The performance of supercapacitors is mostly determined by electrode materials that can store energy via electrostatic charge accumulation. This study presents new sustainable cellulose-derived composite electrodes which consist of carbon nanofibrous (CNF) mats covered with vapor-grown carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The CNF/CNT electrodes have high electrical conductivity and surface area: two most important features that are responsible for good electrochemical performance of supercapacitor electrodes. The results show that the composite electrodes have fairly high values of specific capacitance, energy and power density and can retain excellent performance over at least 2 000 cycles. All of that makes us think that sustainable cellulose-derived composites can be extensively used in future as supercapacitor electrodes.
AbstractThis paper presents a novel micro-fabrication method using focused ultraviolet (UV) light to manufacture three-dimensional sawtooth structures in ultra-thick negative photoresist to fabricate a novel multi-prism x-ray lens. The method uses a lens to shape the UV beam instead of the photomask conventionally used in UV lithography. Benefits of this method include the ability to manufacture sawtooth structures in free form, for example in circular shapes as well as arrays of these shapes, and in resist that is up to 76 μm thick.To verify the method, initially a simple simulation based on Fourier optics was done to predict the exposure energy distribution in the photoresist. Furthermore, circular sawtooth gratings were manufactured in a 76 μm SU-8 resist. The UV lens was fabricated using electron beam lithography and then used to expose the SU-8 with UV light. This paper details the complete developed process, including pre-exposure with an e-beam and cold development, which creates stable sawtooth structures. The measured profile was compared to the ideal sawtooth and the simulation. The main discrepancy was in the smallest feature size, the sawtooth tips, which were wider than the desired structures, as would be expected by simulation.
A micromachined capacitive force sensor operating in the micro-Newton range has been calibrated using both dynamic and static methods. Both calibrations are non-destructive, accurate and traceable to Système International (SI) fundamental units. The dynamic calibration is a differential mass loading resonant method where the resonance frequency with and without an added mass is measured. This gives enough information to compute the spring constant. In this paper, we evaluate the resonant mass loading method for more complex MEMS devices. Analytical calculations and finite element analysis have been performed to investigate the dynamic properties of the sensor, e.g. modal interference. The frequency response was measured with the third harmonic method where the third harmonic of the current through the sensor was measured. To detect and analyse the resonance mode of the structure during excitation, a scanning laser Doppler vibrometer was used. Two designs of a capacitive nanoindenter force sensor with flexure-type springs have been evaluated using these methods. The quality of the resonant calibration method has been tested using static mass loading in combination with transmission electron microscopy imaging of the sensor displacement. This shows that the resonant method can be extended to calibrate more complex structures than plain cantilevers. Both calibration methods used are traceable to SI fundamental units as they are based on masses weighed on a calibrated scale. The masses used do not need to be fixed or glued in any way, making the calibration non-destructive.
The fabrication of cylindrical multi-element electrostatic lenses at the nanoscale presents a challenge; they are high-aspect-ratio structures that should be rotationally symmetric, well aligned and freestanding, with smooth edges and flat, clean surfaces. In this paper, we present the fabrication results of a non-conventional process, which uses a combination of focused gallium ion-beam milling and hydrofluoric acid vapor etching. This process makes it possible to fabricate nanoscale electrostatic lenses down to 140 nm in aperture diameter and 4.2 µm in column length, with a superior control of the geometry as compared to conventional lithography-based techniques