Stereolithographic 3D Printing-Based Hierarchically Cellular Lattices for High-Performance Quasi-Solid Supercapacitor

Abstract

HIGHLIGHTS • Stereolithographic 3D printing was introduced to fabricate polymeric lattices. • Electroless plating was employed to make the lattices conductive and mechanically robust. • Hydrogen bubbles were served as template for engineering the hierarchically porous graphene. • The supercapacitor device holds great promise in the rational coupling of energy and power density. ABSTRACT 3D printing-based supercapacitors have been extensively explored, yet the rigid rheological requirement for corresponding ink preparation significantly limits the manufacturing of true 3D architecture in achieving superior energy storage. We proposed the stereolithographic technique to fabricate the metallic composite lattices with octet-truss arrangement by using electroless plating and engineering the 3D hierarchically porous graphene onto the scaffolds to build the hierarchically cellular lattices in quasi-solid supercapacitor application. The supercapacitor device that is composed of composite lattices span several pore size orders from nm to mm holds promising behavior on the areal capacitance (57.75 mF cm −2), rate capability (70% retention, 2-40 mA cm −2), and long lifespan (96% after 5000 cycles), as well as superior energy density of 0.008 mWh cm −2 , which are comparable to the state-of-the-art carbon-based supercapacitor. By synergistically combining this facile stereolithographic 3D printing technology with the hierarchically porous graphene architecture, we provide a novel route of manufacturing energy storage device as well as new insight into building other high-performance functional electronics.

Additive manufacturing for energy storage: Methods, designs and material selection for customizable 3D printed batteries and supercapacitors

“…One way is to deposit a metal layer after printing the desired shape [38] while second approach is to incorporate conductive agent inside photocurable resins. Addition of silver nitrate [39] and MWCNTs [40,41]* in polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) and acrylic based resin has already been reported with limited electrical conductivity.…”

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

“…When applied in the symmetric supercapacitor device, the areal capacitance of 58 mF cm −2 , long lifespan with 96% capacitance retention after 5000 cycles as well as superior energy density of 0.008 mWh cm −2 were obtained. [36] Similarly, DLP printed well-defined 3D hierarchical micro-supercapacitor electrodes composed of durable octet microtrusses exhibited high surface area (2931 mm 2 g −1 ), high conductivity, and a specific capacitance of 3.01 mF g −1 . [34] In addition, using other printing methods such as laminated object manufacturing (LOM), [30,32] binder jetting (BJ), [145] powder bed fusion (PBF), or selective laser melting (SLM) [27,146,147] for fabricating 3D electrode in energy applications have been sporadically reported.…”

“…[43,44] Metallization of stereolithographically 3D printed polymeric microlattices was used for preparation of conductive hierarchical templates for subsequent active material deposition. [45,46] Another way to use metals as conductive materials in 3D printing is the preparation of dispersions and polymer composites containing metal powder or nanoparticles (typically Cu, Ag, Au, Al). [47,48] In this case the optimal content of metal powder in the polymer matrix must be found in order to exceed the percolation threshold, and, at the same time, to preserve the material printability.…”

“…3D printed graphene composites typically demonstrate high surface area and porosity, good mechanical strength, high conductivity and capacitance, excellent electrochemical and chemical stability. [45,58,[62][63][64] A detailed review focused primarily on the application of graphene-based materials in additive manufacturing of EES was published by Fu et al [53] Besides graphene-based materials, a novel class of electronically conductive 2D nanomaterials called MXenes, 2D transition metal carbides and carbonitrides, have been attracting a growing attention in recent years. These materials show great promise in additive manufacturing of EESD as current collectors, supercapacitor electrodes, and active material components [65,66] due to their high capacitance, high electric conductivity, and superior charge storage and transfer capabilities.…”

“…The maximum power density maintained at 12.56 mW cm −2 (56.52 mW cm −3 ) with a power density of 0.0061 mWh cm −2 (0.027 mWh cm −3 ), stated to be comparable to the state-of-the-art carbon-based supercapacitor. [36] Because of inherent disadvantage of the conventional SLA method with long fabrication duration and large beam size, digital light processing (DLP) is introduced as faster VAT-P printing technique to design supercapacitor electrodes. Recently, DLP printing-based hierarchically cellular lattices were built with different structures.…”