US Patent 7812450 - Electrode with coated nanostructures

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7812450.html

It is useful to increase the surface areas of electrodes used in batteries and capacitors in order to enhance the energy storage density. There have been a variety of patents discussing the use of nanostructures to achieve such enhanced surface area and this latest patent from Hon Hai Precision uses nanoimprinting to form nanostructured surfaces which are further coated with nanomaterials. Claim 1 reads:

1. An electrode comprising:

a conducting substrate integratedly formed with a plurality of nano-sized structures on a major surface thereof; and

a coating directly formed on both the nano-sized structures and portions of the major surface between the nano-sized structures, the coating being comprised of carbon nanotubes and nano-sized particles;

wherein the nano-sized structures are configured for increasing specific surface area of the electrode.