Super-caps for IoT only 0.6mm thick

Cap-XX has halved the thickness of its supercapacitors – to 0.6mm – aiming them at power-boosting in IoT applications.

The range is called Thinline, conceived while working with a customer designing a disposable insulin pump. “We figured out how to eliminate materials and change some processes to reduce costs and thickness,” said Cap-XX CEO Anthony Kongats.

Many energy sources cannot support high load currents.

Solar, vibration and RF energy harvesters are examples, as are thin-film batteries and coil cells.

A super capacitor can collect energy from weak energy sources over a long time, and supply that charge to a high-current load for a sort time – a wireless transmit burst for example, or for data storage on power fail.

The firm’s supercapacitors store charge in engineered carbon electrodes on aluminium foil. Its previous thinnest capacitor was 1.1mm. “To reduce thickness and manufacturing costs, Cap-XX increased the power and energy density in its electrode materials to deliver equivalent performance in about half the volume, and eliminated the folded edges and copper terminals that contribute to thickness,” said the firm.

CAP-XX Thinline supercapacitors support power requirements in IoT devices including wireless communication (Bluetooth, Bluetooth Smart, Zigbee, Z-Wave, Ant, active RFID), electronic paper and OLED displays, haptic or tactile feedback, vibration alerts, GPS acquisition, and injection or inhalation system delivery.

At a glance

• from 0.6mm (600µm) thick
• up to 117kW/litre
• ESR from 16mΩ, 2x nominal at -40°C
• 0.8Wh/litre loading
• up to 2.75V continuous
• -40 to +85°C operation
• Leakage typically <1µA
• Virtually unlimited charge-discharge cycle life
• Three footprints:
• ‘A’    19.5 x 20.0 x (0.6-0.9)mm 60-180mF 45-200mΩ
• ‘W’    28 x 20.2 x (0.6-0.9)mm 100-300mF, 24-120mΩ
• ‘S’     39 x 20.2 x (0.6-0.9)mm 180-540mF, 16-75mΩ

0.7 and 0.9mm cells have higher C/lower ESR and cost slightly more.
Suggested retail price for 0.6mm cells is less than $1 in large volumes.
All parts are available in 2.3V (70°C) or 2.75V (85°C), and can be assembled by soldering or welding (ultrasonic, laser or spot).

steve bush

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