3D Printing the Next Generation of Batteries

Rahul Panat, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, and a team of CMU researchers in collaboration with Missouri University of Science and Technology have developed a revolutionary new method of 3D printing battery electrodes that creates a 3D microlattice structure with controlled porosity. The researchers show, in a paper published in the journal Additive Manufacturing , that creating a 3D microlattice structure with controlled porosity can vastly improve the capacity and charge-discharge rates for lithium-ion batteries. This revolutionary method will be very important for consumer electronics, the medical devices industry, as well as aerospace applications. This research will integrate well with biomedical electronic devices, where miniaturized batteries are required. Non-biological electronic micro-devices also will benefit from this work. And on a bigger scale, electronic devices, small drones, and aerospace applications themselves can use this technology as well, due to the low weight and high capacity of the batteries printed using this method. "In the case of lithium-ion batteries, the electrodes with porous architectures can lead to higher charge capacities," Panat said.