Barry Van Tassell

The relationship between coefficient of restitution and state of charge of zinc alkaline primary LR6 batteries

The coefficient of restitution of alkaline batteries has been shown to increase as a function of depth of discharge. In this work, using non-destructive mechanical testing, the change in coefficient of restitution is compared to in situ energy-dispersive X-ray diffraction data to determine the cause of the macroscopic change in coefficient of restitution. The increase in coefficient of restitution correlates to the formation of a percolation pathway of ZnO within the anode of the cell, and the coefficient of restitution levels off at a value of 0.66 ± 0.02 at 50% state of charge when the anode has densified into porous ZnO solid. Of note is the sensitivity of coefficient of restitution to the amount of ZnO formation that rivals the sensitivity of in situ energy-dispersive X-ray diffraction.

Metacapacitors: Printed Thin Film, Flexible Capacitors for Power Conversion Applications

The Metacapacitors project aims to improve efficiency, functionality and form factor of offline power converters suitable for LED solid-state lighting, with a view to developing an attractive technology platform for load management and power conversion across a broad range of applications. Based on integrated switched-capacitor (SC) topologies, the project adopts an integrated approach from materials to devices to circuits. We designed capacitors based on high-κ dielectric nanocrystals, that can be prepared using high-throughput microfabrication/nanotechnology techniques, ink deposition and multilayering. The capacitor dielectric, a nanocomposite composed of (Ba, Sr)TiO3 nanocrystals in polyfurfuryl alcohol (BST/PFA, κ > 20, 100Hz-1 MHz, loss <; 0.01, 20 kHz), targets a high volumetric capacitance density and ripple current capability. The Dielectric is demonstrated to function in a finished capacitor > 1000 h at 125°C. The capacitors were board integrated with a custom hybrid-switched-capacitor-resonant dc-dc converter IC. The converter integrates a balanced SC front-end with a series resonant tank, enabling nearly lossless current regulation and tranformerless galvanic isolation. The converter IC can be stacked in the voltage domain to interface a range of inputs. The tested driver delivers about 15 W at 470 mA to a string of 12 LEDs with 90% peak efficiency.