Ultracapacitors formed by molecular self-assembly

Capacitive elements have been formed by depositing multiple layers of selected polymers, inorganic metal oxide nanoclusters, and other molecules between parallel electrically conducting electrode layers of noble metal nanoclusters and thin metal films formed by conventional vacuum deposition methods. Considerations for silica nanocluster dielectric nanoparticles are considered in particular in this paper. Control over the capacitance of the elements was achieved by varying the polymers and inorganic nanoclusters in the dielectric layers, the thickness of the dielectric layer and the two dimensional area of the elements. Breakdown voltages on the order of tens of megavolts per meter were obtained due to the low defect concentration in the thin film dielectric layers, and the inherent ability of the thin film self-assembly process to avoid molecular impurities and pinholes.