Structure for electric energy storage using carbon nanotubes

A method of synthesizing a composite structure comprising the steps of:

• providing a metal substrate, the substrate having a thickness less than 500 μm;
• forming a metal oxide layer over at least a majority of a first surface of the metal substrate, the metal oxide layer comprising at least a first metal and a second metal, wherein the first metal is different from the second metal;
• and
• forming a plurality of carbon nanotubes on the metal oxide layer using chemical vapor deposition,
• wherein the carbon nanotubes are resistively coupled to the metal substrate, and
• wherein at least a portion of the carbon nanotubes are disposed such that one end of the carbon nanotube is positioned at least 5 nm below the surface of the metal oxide layer.

A composite structure comprising:

• a substrate comprising a first metal and a second metal, the first metal and the second metal being different elements, the substrate comprising
• a metal oxide layer comprising the first metal and the second metal, the metal oxide layer having a thickness between 1 nm and 300 nm, wherein at least 80% of the first metal and 80% of the second metal exist in an oxidized form;
• and
• a metal layer, wherein the first metal and the second metal make up at least 50% of the metal in the metal layer;
• wherein the thickness of the substrate is less than 500 μm, the ratio of the thickness of the metal layer to the metal oxide layer is greater than 100, and the ratio of the first metal to the second metal is between 1:1 and 10:1;
• a plurality of carbon nanotubes disposed on the substrate, wherein the metal oxide layer is disposed between the metal layer and the plurality of carbon nanotubes;
• wherein at least one carbon nanotube is resistively coupled to the metal layer through the metal oxide layer;
• wherein at least one carbon nanotube is disposed such that one end of the carbon nanotube is positioned at least 5 nm below the surface of the metal oxide layer;
• wherein the first metal is selected from a first group consisting of:
• iron, nickel, aluminum, cobalt, copper, chromium, and gold;
• and
• wherein the second metal is selected from the first group.