Learning About Polymer Capacitors -- The Learning Circuit 40

Matt — Wed, 13 Feb 2019 08:24:00 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by Matt on 2/13/2019 8:24:00 AM

Learning About Polymer Capacitors

The Learning Circuit | element14 presents | Project Videos

www.youtube.com/watch

Capacitors are a seemingly simple device. In this episode, James goes deep into what makes polymer capacitors different from other capacitor types. Spoiler alert: it is a material found on the cathode side of the capacitor that makes a polymer, a polymer. Additionally, he covers what to consider when trying to switch from a multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) to a polymer.

Take the Polymer Capacitor Quiz

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Join the Experimenting with Polymer Capacitor Competition

Finding specifications on capacitors varies by manufacturer. Some provide very detailed, yet complicated, charts in their datasheets while others provide on-line tools. In this video James used a simulation tool from KEMET Electronics called K-SIM and one from Murata called Sim Surfer.

One downside to these tools is that they are vendor specific. Unlike circuit simulation tools, these "simualtors" are simulating the capacitor's parameters. Many engineers will simply use their design's worst case when trying to get information from these tools. Keep in mind that most will let you export a netlist for use in circuit simulation tools. Unforutantely, those netlists are only valid for the specific conditions that they were generated. For example, if you generate an X5R model at 70°C, you would need a seperate model for 85°C.

Often over looked, there are application engineers available to help you. One option is to start with your favorite distributor, like Farnell or Newark. If they do not have someone on their support team that can answer your capacitor questions, they can reach out to manufacturers on your behalf to get application specific data. And, of course, you can leave questions below for help from the element14 community!

Supplemental Content:

Bill of Material:

Part	Manufacturer	Quantity	Buy KitBuy Kit
Aluminum Polymers
560 µF SP-CAP	Panasonic	1	Buy NowBuy Now
100 µF 25V	KEMET	1	Buy NowBuy Now
EEH-ZE1V151P - 150 µF 35 V (Hybrid)	Panasonic	1	Buy NowBuy Now
16SVPK680M 680 µF 16 V	Panasonic	1	Buy NowBuy Now
Tantalum Polymers
T530X158M2R5ATE005 - 1500 µF KO-CAP	KEMET	1	Buy NowBuy Now
T530X158M2R5ATE005 - 1500 µF KO-CAP	KEMET	1	Buy NowBuy Now
T520V107M006ATE007 - 100 µF 6.3 V	KEMET	1	Buy NowBuy Now

Tags: polymer capacitors, polymers, kocap, oscon, capacitors, polymer electrolytic capacitors, tantalum, e14presents_baldengineer, poscap, passive components, aluminum capacitor

The Learning Circuit 40: Learning About Polymer Capacitors

tariq.ahmad — Tue, 04 May 2021 14:37:31 GMT

Revision 1 posted to Documents by tariq.ahmad on 5/4/2021 2:37:31 PM