What Are Electrolytic Capacitors?

Electrolytic capacitors have a metallic anode covered with an oxidized layer used as dielectric. The second electrode is a non-solid (wet) or solid electrolyte. Electrolytic capacitors are polarized. Three families are available, categorized according to their dielectric.

  • Aluminum electrolytic capacitors with aluminum oxide as dielectric

  • Tantalum electrolytic capacitors with tantalum pentoxide as dielectric

  • Niobium electrolytic capacitors with niobium pentoxide as dielectric.

The anode is highly roughened to increase the surface area. This and the relatively high permittivity of the oxide layer gives these capacitors very high capacitance per unit volume compared with film- or ceramic capacitors.

The permittivity of tantalum pentoxide is approximately three times higher than aluminium oxide, producing significantly smaller components. However, permittivity determines only the dimensions. Electrical parameters, especially conductivity, are established by the electrolyte's material and composition. Three general types of electrolytes are used:

  • non solid (wet, liquid)—conductivity approximately 10 mS/cm and are the lowest cost

  • solid manganese oxide—conductivity approximately 100 mS/cm offer high quality and stability

  • solid conductive polymer (Polypyrrole or PEDOT:PSS)—conductivity approximately 100...500 S/cm,. offer ESR values as low as <10 mΩ

Internal losses of electrolytic capacitors, prevailing used for decoupling and buffering applications, are determined by the kind of electrolyte.
The large capacitance per unit volume of electrolytic capacitors make them valuable in relatively high-current and low-frequency electrical circuits, e.g. in power supply filters for decoupling unwanted AC components from DC power connections or as coupling capacitors in audio amplifiers, for passing or bypassing low-frequency signals and storing large amounts of energy. The relatively high capacitance value of an electrolytic capacitor combined with the very low ESR of the polymer electrolyte of polymer capacitors, especially in SMD styles, makes them a competitor to MLC chip capacitors in personal computer power supplies.

Bipolar aluminum electrolytic capacitors (also called Non-Polarized capacitors) contain two anodized aluminium foils, behaving like two capacitors connected in series opposition.

Electrolytic capacitors for special applications include motor start capacitors, flashlight capacitors and audio frequency capacitors.

Source: Wikipedia

CapacitorsRick GrigalunasComment