Researchers at Rice University have created a tiny coaxial cable that is about a thousand times smaller than a human hair, and has higher capacitance than previously reported microcapacitors. The nanocable could be used to build next-generation energy-storage systems. It could also find use in wiring up components of lab-on-a-chip processors.
The heart of the cable is a solid copper wire that is surrounded by a thin sheath of insulating copper oxide. A third layer, another conductor, surrounds that. The coax nanocable is about 100 nanometers, or 100 billionths of a meter, wide.
While the coaxial cable is a mainstay of broadband telecommunications, the three-layer, metal-insulator-metal structure can also be used to build energy-storage capacitors.
Also: Learn about electrochemical ultracapacitors using graphitic nanostacks.
