Three-Dimensional Printing of a Complete Lithium Ion Battery with Fused Filament Fabrication

Abstract

The ability to 3D print lithium ion batteries (LIBs) in an arbitrary geometry would not only allow the battery form factor to be customized to fit a given product design but also facilitate the use of the battery as a structural component. A major hurdle to achieving this goal is the low ionic conductivity of the polymers used for 3D printing. This article reports the development of anode, cathode, and separator materials that enable 3D printing of complete lithium ion batteries with low cost and widely available fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printers. Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) was infused with a mixture of ethyl methyl carbonate, propylene carbonate, and LiClO 4 to obtain an ionic conductivity of 0.085 mS cm −1 , a value comparable to that of polymer and hybrid electrolytes. Different electrically conductive (Super P, graphene, multiwall carbon nanotubes) and active (lithium titanate, lithium manganese oxide) materials were blended into PLA to determine the relationships among filler loading, conductivity, charge storage capacity, and printability. Up to 30 vol % of solids could be mixed into PLA without degrading its printability, and an 80:20 ratio of conductive to active material maximized the charge storage capacity. The highest capacity was obtained with lithium titanate and graphene nanoplatelets in the anode, and lithium manganese oxide and multiwall carbon nanotubes in the cathode. We demonstrate the use of these novel materials in a fully 3D printed coin cell, as well as 3D printed wearable electronic devices with integrated batteries.

Design and Characterization of Electrically Conductive Structures Additively Manufactured by Material Extrusion

“…Mostly carbon allotropes, for instance, carbon nanotubes, carbon black and graphene, are used for the functionalization of the material composites. Besides effects on electrical conductivity, certain studies underline the positive effect of fillers on mechanical properties, especially Young's modulus and tensile strength [2,[18][19][20][21][22]. Due to the direction of the deposited material, some fillers (e.g., graphene flakes) are oriented in the extrusion direction and, thus, the anisotropy of conductivity and tensile strength or Young's modulus increases [20].…”

“…Hampel et al (2017) [4] showed the integration of electrical components by means of a 3d printed flashing circuit, for instance, a push button, resistors, and cavities for the integration of a capacitor or an LED. Furthermore, to demonstrate the potential of functional integration of additively manufactured electrical components, Reyes et al (2018) [19] realized a lithium ion battery that is integrated into side…”

Additive Manufacturing of Batteries

“…h) 3D‐printed bangle battery lighting up an LED. Reproduced with permission . Copyright 2018, American Chemical Society.…”

“…The direct 3D printing approach for batteries is able to facilitate the creation of such kinds of systems. For example, Reyes et al developed a fully printed and customized Li‐ion battery with an FDM 3D printer to accommodate a given product design . By screening nine combinations of carbonate solvents and three electrolytes for commercial lithium‐ion batteries, they successfully improved the ionic conductivity of PLA to 0.085 mS cm −1 , about four times higher than the previously reported values .…”

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

“…Common additives used in polymer matrix for EESDs are various conductive materials like ABS/graphene [26], ABS/carbon [27], PLA/graphene [28] and even PLA/LTO/carbon and PLA/LFP/carbon [29]* which are essential for electrode fabrication in lithium ion batteries. A good example is a recent study [30]** where three conductive agents (Super-P, MWCNTs, graphene) and two active materials (Lithium titanate, lithium manganese oxide) were blended with PLA to test the printability, conductivity and charge storage capacity of the new composite.…”