Electrolytic capacitors

- an overview, information or tutorial about the basics of the electrolytic capacitor: its construction, properties and the uses of the electrolytic capacitor.

Today electrolytic capacitors are used in huge quantities. They are very cost effective and able to provide a larger capacitance per volume than other types of capacitor. This gives them very many uses in circuits where high currents or low frequencies are involved. Typically they are used most in applications such as audio amplifiers of all types (hi-fi to mobile phones) and in power supply circuits.

Like any other capacitor, it is necessary to understand the advantages and limitations of these capacitors to enable them to be used most effectively.

Electrolytic capacitor development

The electrolytic capacitor has been in use for many years. Its history can be traced back to the very early days or radio around the time when the first broadcasts of entertainment were being made. At the time, valve wireless sets were very expensive, and they had to run from batteries. However with the development of the indirectly heated valve or vacuum tube it became possible to use AC mains power. While it was fine for the heaters to run from an AC supply, the anode supply needed to be rectified and smoothed to prevent mains hum appearing on the audio. In order to be able to use a capacitor that was not too large Julius Lilienfield who was heavily involved in developing wireless sets for domestic use was able to develop the electrolytic capacitor, allowing a component with sufficiently high capacitance but reasonable size to be used in the wireless sets

Construction of electrolytic capacitors

The plates of an electrolytic capacitor are constructed from conducting aluminium foil. As a result they can be made very thin and they are also flexible so that they can be packaged easily at the end of the production process. The two plates, or foils are slightly different. One is coated with an insulating oxide layer, and a paper spacer soaked in electrolyte is placed between them. The foil insulated by the oxide layer is the anode while the liquid electrolyte and the second foil act as cathode.

In order to package them the two aluminium foils with the electrolyte soaked paper are rolled together to form a cylinder, and they are placed into an aluminium can. In this way the electrolytic capacitor is compact while being robust as a result of the protection afforded by the can.

There are two geometries that are used for the connection leads or tags. One is to use axial leads, one coming from each circular face of the cylinder. The other alternative is to use two radial leads or tags, both of which come from the same face of the cylinder.

The lead styles give rise to the descriptions used for the overall capacitors. Descriptions of axial and radial will be seen in the component references.

Electrolytic capacitor properties

There are a number of parameters of importance beyond the basic capacitance and capacitive reactance when using electrolytic capacitors. When designing circuits using electrolytic capacitors it is necessary to take these additional parameters into consideration for some designs, and to be aware of them when using electrolytic capacitors.

1. ESR Equivalent series resistance:   Electrolytic capacitors are often used in circuits where current levels are relatively high. Also under some circumstances and current sourced from them needs to have a low source impedance, for example when the capacitor is being used in a power supply circuit as a reservoir capacitor. Under these conditions it is necessary to consult the manufacturers datasheets to discover whether the electrolytic capacitor chosen will meet the requirements for the circuit. If the ESR is high, then it will not be able to deliver the required amount of current in the circuit, without a voltage drop resulting from the ESR which will be seen as a source resistance.



2. Frequency response:   One of the problems with electrolytic capacitors is that they have a limited frequency response. It is found that their ESR rises with frequency and this generally limits their use to frequencies below about 100 kHz. This is particularly true for large capacitors, and even the smaller electrolytic capacitors should not be relied upon at high frequencies. To gain exact details it is necessary to consult the manufacturers data for a given part.



3. Leakage:   Although electrolytic capacitors have much higher levels of capacitance for a given volume than most other capacitor technologies, they can also have a higher level of leakage. This is not a problem for most applications, such as when they are used in power supplies. However under some circumstances they are not suitable. For example they should not be used around the input circuitry of an operational amplifier. Here even a small amount of leakage can cause problems because of the high input impedance levels of the op-amp. It is also worth noting that the levels of leakage are considerably higher in the reverse direction.



4. Ripple current:   When using electrolytic capacitors in high current applications such as the reservoir capacitor of a power supply, it is necessary to consider the ripple current it is likely to experience. Capacitors have a maximum ripple current they can supply. Above this they can become too hot which will reduce their life. In extreme cases it can cause the capacitor to fail. Accordingly it is necessary to calculate the expected ripple current and check that it is within the manufacturers maximum ratings.

Polarisation

Unlike many other types of capacitor, electrolytic capacitors are polarised and must be connected within a circuit so that they only see a voltage across them in a particular way. The capacitors themselves are marked so that polarity can easily be seen. In addition to this it is common for the can of the capacitor to be connected to the negative terminal.

It is absolutely necessary to ensure that any electrolytic capacitors are connected within a circuit with the correct polarity. A reverse bias voltage will cause the centre oxide layer forming the dielectric to be destroyed as a result of electrochemical reduction. If this occurs a short circuit will appear and excessive current can cause the capacitor to become very hot. If this occurs the component may leak the electrolyte, but under some circumstances they can explode. As this is not uncommon, it is very wise to take precautions and ensure the capacitor is fitted correctly, especially in applications where high current capability exists.

Electrolytic SMD capacitors

Electrolytic capacitors are now being used increasingly in SMD designs. Their very high levels of capacitance combined with their low cost make them particularly useful in many areas. Originally they were not used in particularly high quantities because they were not able to withstand some of the soldering processes. Now improved capacitor design along with the use of reflow techniques instead of wave soldering enables electrolytic capacitors to be used more widely in surface mount format.

Often SMD electrolytic capacitors are marked with the value and working voltage. There are two basic methods used. One is to include their value in microfarads (m F), and another is to use a code. Using the first method a marking of 33 6V would indicate a 33 mF capacitor with a working voltage of 6 volts. An alternative code system employs a letter followed by three figures. The letter indicates the working voltage as defined in the table below and the three figures indicate the capacitance on picofarads. As with many other marking systems the first two figures give the significant figures and the third, the multiplier. In this case a marking of G106 would indicate a working voltage of 4 volts and a capacitance 0f 10 times 10^6 picofarads. This works out to be 10 mF

Letter	Voltage
e	2.5
G	4
J	6.3
A	10
C	16
D	20
E	25
V	35
H	50

Voltage codes for SMD electrolytic capacitors