KEMET introduces hybrid aluminum polymer capacitor technology for automotive and industrial applications

     Yageo's KEMET, the world's leading supplier of electronic components, announced the launch of three hybrid aluminum-polymer capacitor families: A780, PHA225 and PHH225. The three AEC-Q200 certified capacitors combine highly conductive polymer technology with liquid electrolyte materials in a hybrid design to provide outstanding electrical performance for automotive and industrial applications. The launch is in line with the growing market for automotive electrification products, driven in part by the growing demand for 48V architectures for mild hybrid electric vehicles (MHEVs). According to a report released by market research firm Markets and Markets in September 2020, the automotive electrification market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.9%, from $73.7 billion to $129.6 billion by 2025.

     The A780 series is Kimi Electronics' first surface mount (V-Chip) hybrid aluminum polymer capacitor. The liquid aluminum electrolyte and the solid polymer material are both contained in a cylindrical aluminum tank and, when combined, offer advantages over standard solid polymer aluminum capacitors without liquid electrolytes, such as higher ripple current resistance, lower equivalent series resistance (ESR), lower leakage current, and excellent self-healing properties. These capacitors can withstand severe vibrations (up to 30g) to meet stringent design requirements for automotive powertrains and industrial applications, including engine control units, DC/DC converters, 48V inverters for MHEVs, switching power supplies (SMPS) and computer voltage regulator modules (VRMS).

     The PHA225 and PHH225 hybrid aluminum polymer capacitor technology has been further developed with an axial and radial crown design, the same as the A780 series, which also combines highly conductive polymers with liquid electrolyte materials. These capacitors can withstand temperatures up to 140 ° C, providing extremely high ripple current resistance and self-recovery characteristics. The hybrid structure of the polymer and liquid electrolyte provides an extremely low and stable ESR in all temperature ranges, thus extending its service life.

     The smaller size of the PHA/PHH 225 capacitor and its higher resistance to ripple current per unit volume make it useful for designing automotive and industrial technologies such as 48V automotive inverters. Engineers designing existing 48-V automotive inverters with multiple smaller, high-power-density hybrid aluminum capacitors in parallel can reduce the number of components required while still maintaining high ripple current resistance. The PHA225 and PHH225 hybrid series are ideal for designing high-power automotive applications, such as DC bus bars for 48-V inverters, cooling fans, water pumps, power steering, and braking and injection systems.

     "The A780, PHA225 and PHH225 series are designed to incorporate Kimi's proprietary hybrid polymer technology and electrolyte materials." "These advances in our polymer and aluminum products not only support the growing trend of automotive electrification, but also provide design engineers with reliable solutions in terms of decoupling, smoothing, filtering and power conversion," said RuiMonteiro, Technical director of Aluminum electrolysis at Kimi Electronics.