If you want to improve the performance of batteries and capacitors, one sure-fire way is to increase charge density. And the way to do this is to up-scale the surface area of your electrodes. Various configurations of carbon, both alone and in combination with other elements, can provide that increase, which is why we have reported on everything from nanoflowers to a carbon nanofoam.

The latest news in the battle for increased surface area comes from Rice University, where scientists have seamlessly combined carbon nanotubes a few atoms wide and 120 microns long onto one-atom thick graphene sheets, reports Science Daily. That means that if the nanotubes were the same width as an average house, they would rise up from the graphene ‘ground’ like mega-skyscrapers… into space.

As you can imagine, that’s a lot of surface area: 2,000 square metres per gramme of material, in fact. But what about practical applications? Researchers at Rice say their tests indicate the material already performs as well as the best carbon super-capacitors.