3D direct writing fabrication of electrodes for electrochemical storage devices

Abstract

Among different printing techniques, direct ink writing is commonly used to fabricate 3D battery and supercapacitor electrodes. The major advantages of using the direct ink writing include effectively building 3D structure for energy storage devices and providing higher power density and higher energy density than traditional techniques due to the increased surface area of electrode. Nevertheless, direct ink writing has high standards for the printing inks, which requires high viscosity, high yield stress under shear and compression, and well-controlled viscoelasticity. Recently, a number of 3D-printed energy storage devices have been reported, and it is very important to understand the printing process and the ink preparation process for further material design and technology development. We discussed current progress of direct ink writing technologies by using various electrode materials including carbon nanotube-based material, graphene-based material, LTO (Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 ), LFP (LiFePO 4 ), LiMn 1-x Fe x PO 4 , and Zn-based metallic oxide. Based on achieve electrochemical performance, these 3D-printed devices deliver performance comparable to the energy storage device fabricated using traditional methods still leaving large room for further improvement. Finally, perspectives are provided on the potential future direction of 3D printing for all solid-state electrochemical energy storage devices.

3D Carbon Materials for Efficient Oxygen and Hydrogen Electrocatalysis

“…In particular, the use of 3D printing to develop graphene aerogels, neat porous carbon aerogels, MOF‐derived hierarchically porous frameworks, carbon fiber (CF) reinforced thermoplastic composites, and LiFePO 4 /GO‐based interdigitated electrodes with controllable geometries and sizes at micrometer scales has been widely explored. 3D printing can process 3D porous carbon structures of 10 µm thick or thicker with very quick drying time . Some 3D‐printed electrodes have been used in Li‐O 2 batteries and are attracting tremendous interest, though the application of 3D‐printed electrodes in electrocatalysis is still in its infancy .…”

“…3D printing can process 3D porous carbon structures of 10 µm thick or thicker with very quick drying time. [126][127][128][129] Some 3D-printed electrodes have been used in Li-O 2 batteries [116] and are attracting tremendous interest, though the application of 3D-printed electrodes in electrocatalysis is still in its infancy. [36,130] 3D-printed electrode use in electrocatalysis might be hampered, though, by the development of an appropriate ink and printing scheme for abundant active sites generation.…”

Progress of Nanostructured Electrode Materials for Supercapacitors

“…Moreover, the new emerging materials such as 2D MXenes, LDH, and other 3D materials can be used as hierarchical structure templates to synthesize the multidimensional nanostructure carbon materials. [153,154] Furthermore, the nanostructure carbon materials could be prepared by the new synthetic technology such as aerosol spray [155][156][157][158][159] and 3D printing technology, [160][161][162][163][164] which are simple, cost-effective and shows incredible versatility for materials processing with diverse nanostructures and unique properties. All in all, the power and energy densities need to be further improved and these designed novel nanostructure carbon materials would promote a new generation of supercapacitors with outstanding electrochemical performance in the near future.…”

Evolution of 3D Printing Methods and Materials for Electrochemical Energy Storage

“…[68][69][70][71][72] Carbon nanotubes are promising candidates for current collector and electrode 3D printing due to high carrier mobility, superior mechanical strength and large specific surface area that can be functionalized for improved energy storage performance. [73,74] Depending on the structure, CNT can be either conductors or semiconductors. However, the relatively high cost of carbon nanotubes production can be a limiting factor for wide adoption of CNT-based materials in EESD manufacturing.…”