Modified carbon nano structures for energy and display applications

Carbon nano structures including fullerenes, nanotubes, nanocones and graphene are gaining a considerable interest for supercapaitors in memory backup devices, electric vehicles, and emergency power supplies. In addition, these structures are utilized to improve resolution and power consumption of field emission displays. The energy density and performance of supercapacitors depend on the choice of electrode and electrolyte materials. Our recent work based on direct modification of grapheme and multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as well as their incorporation in metal oxides shows considerable future potential for improved supercapacitor performance. The structural stability and capacitive performance of MWCNTs and grapheme were investigated at varying Gallium ion doses. It was found that ion irradiation dose of 2×10¹³ ions/cm² results in twice the electric double layer capacitance of MWCNT electrodes. The observed dependence of the specific capacitance on the irradiation dose can be explained via defect creation and opening up of CNT caps. The field emission properties of morphologically disordered monolayer graphene improved in terms of turn-on voltages and current density.