3D Printing‐Enabled Design and Manufacturing Strategies for Batteries: A Review

Abstract

Lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs) have significantly impacted the daily lives, finding broad applications in various industries such as consumer electronics, electric vehicles, medical devices, aerospace, and power tools. However, they still face issues (i.e., safety due to dendrite propagation, manufacturing cost, random porosities, and basic & planar geometries) that hinder their widespread applications as the demand for LIBs rapidly increases in all sectors due to their high energy and power density values compared to other batteries. Additive manufacturing (AM) is a promising technique for creating precise and programmable structures in energy storage devices. This review first summarizes light, filament, powder, and jetting‐based 3D printing methods with the status on current trends and limitations for each AM technology. The paper also delves into 3D printing‐enabled electrodes (both anodes and cathodes) and solid‐state electrolytes for LIBs, emphasizing the current state‐of‐the‐art materials, manufacturing methods, and properties/performance. Additionally, the current challenges in the AM for electrochemical energy storage (EES) applications, including limited materials, low processing precision, codesign/comanufacturing concepts for complete battery printing, machine learning (ML)/artificial intelligence (AI) for processing optimization and data analysis, environmental risks, and the potential of 4D printing in advanced battery applications, are also presented.

A Review of 3D Printing Batteries

“…In contrast, the emerging technologies of 3D printing offer design freedom [30], which leads to customization for specific applications [34,35] and the fabrication of novel and complex structures [36] that were not possible to manufacture through conventional methods and improve the overall performance and efficiency of the batteries. Furthermore, while conventional techniques may excel in terms of established processes and large-scale production capabilities [37], 3D printing offers advantages in rapid prototyping [38] and on-demand manufacturing [39,40].…”

“…High resolution and mechanical stability: The advent of 3D printing technology has revolutionized the precision and resolution of battery designs, which directly affects the energy and power density and the overall battery performance [38,[67][68][69][70][71][72][73]. Furthermore, the ability to fabricate high-resolution geometries through 3D printing results in enhanced mechanical stability [71].…”

Environmental Aspects and Recycling of Solid-State Batteries: A Comprehensive Review

“…Understanding the operational environmental footprint of SSBs necessitates a detailed comparison with traditional battery technologies, particularly LIBs, which dominate current energy storage applications. This comparison revolves around several key factors, including energy efficiency, durability, and the overall lifecycle impact of these technologies [58,59]. SSBs, with their solid electrolytes, offer a significant leap in energy efficiency due to lower internal resistance, which reduces energy loss during charging and discharging cycles compared to their Li-ion counterparts [59].…”

“…This comparison revolves around several key factors, including energy efficiency, durability, and the overall lifecycle impact of these technologies [58,59]. SSBs, with their solid electrolytes, offer a significant leap in energy efficiency due to lower internal resistance, which reduces energy loss during charging and discharging cycles compared to their Li-ion counterparts [59]. This inherent efficiency potentially leads to a reduced operational energy demand for devices and systems powered by SSBs, thereby contributing to a lower environmental footprint in terms of both direct energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions [58].…”

Light-Driven Nanonetwork Assembly of Gold Nanoparticles via 3D Printing for Optical Sensors

“…Featured by successively stacking two-dimensional patterns, these techniques can be used to construct complex three-dimensional structures with precise geometrical control. − However, they generally have low printed resolutions (>100 μm) and lack versatile nanoscale patterning manufacturing capabilities and functionalities. − Recently, emerging nanoscale 3D printing techniques, such as two-photon polymerization (2PP) and electrohydrodynamic (EHD) printing, have pushed feature sizes down to the nanometer regime (Typical 3D printing techniques for self-assembly of Au summarized in Table S1). However, these techniques still face challenges, including slow printing speeds and high costs, and often suffer from limited material choices and inefficient or complex processes. − A critical technical barrier remains in developing an accessible high-resolution manufacturing route integrated with high-throughput 3D printing programmability that can lead to functional materials at the nanoscale. − …”