image: This image shows a dielectric capacitor with interdigital electrodes formed by chemical vapor deposition of Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) (purple and green) in a uniquely structured anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane. In the capacitor, a uniquely structured AAO with two sets of interdigitated and isolated straight nanopores with large and small diameters, opening toward opposite planar surfaces, acts as the dielectric material. Two sets of CNT arrays, grown in the two sets of nanopores of the uniquely structured AAO, act as interdigitated positive and negative electrodes, respectively. When a potential is applied, a static electric field develops across the dielectric, causing positive charges to collect on the surface of the large-diameter CNTs and negative charges on the surface of the small-diameter CNTs (or vice versa), respectively. Then, energy is stored in the electrostatic field. This material relates to a paper that appeared in the Oct. 23, 2015, issue of Science, published by AAAS. The paper, by F. Han at Chinese Academy of Sciences in Hefei, China, and colleagues was titled, "Below-ground plant-fungus network topology is not congruent with above-ground plant-animal network topology." view more
Credit: [Credit: Guowen Meng]