TYPES OF CAPACITORS

TYPES OF CAPACITORS

1. Air Capacitor

   • Air capacitors use air as a dielectric. Simplest air capacitors are made up of two conductive plates separated by an air gap. Air capacitors can be made a variable or fixed capacitance form. Fixed air capacitors are rarely used since there are many other types with superior characteristics.

2. Ceramic Capacitor

   • A ceramic capacitor uses a ceramic material as dielectric material. The most commonly used ceramic capacitors in modern electronics are muli-layer chip capacitor (MLCC) and ceramic disc capacitor. MLCC are made in SMD (surface-mounted) technology and is widely used due to its small size.

3. Electrolytic Capacitor

   • This is the type of capacitor that uses an electrolyte to achieve a larger capacitance than other types of capacitor. An electrolyte is a liquid/gel that contains a high concentration of ions. Almost all electrolytic capacitor are polarized making the voltage at the positive terminal always greater than the negative terminal.

4. Supercapacitor

   • Supercapacitors are electronic devices which can store extremely large amounts of electrical charge. Supercapacitors are special subtype of electrolytic capacitors and is known as double-layer capacitors or ultracapacitor. It is a polar device, requiring it to be correctly connected in the circuit.

5. Tantalum Capacitor

   • This type of capacitor is another subtype of the electrolytic capacitor. They are made of tantalum metal that acts as an anode, covered by a layer of oxide that acts as the dielectric, surrounded by conductive cathode. Tantalum allows for a very thin dielectric layer resulting in a higher capacitance value per volume, superior frequency characteristics compared to other types of capacitors and excellent stability over time.

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