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

Additive manufacturing has revolutionized the building of materials direct from design, allowing high resolution rapid prototyping in complex 3D designs with many materials. 3D printing hasenabled high strength damage-tolerant structures, bioprinted artificial organs and tissues, ultralight metals, medicine, education, prosthetics, architecture, consumer electronics,and as a prototyping tool for engineers and hobbyists alike. 3D printing has emerged as a useful tool for complex electrode and material assembly method for batteries and supercapacitors in recent years. The field initially grew from extrusion-based methods such as fused deposition modelling, and evolved to photopolymerization printing of intricate composites, while supercapacitor technologies less sensitive to solvents more often involved material jetting processes. Underpinning every part of a 3D printable battery and many other devices is the printing method and the nature of the feed material. Material purity, printing fidelity, accuracy, complexity, and the ability to form conductive, ceramic, glassy, or solvent-stable plastics relies on the nature of the feed material or composite to such an extent, that the future of 3D printable batteries and electrochemical energy storage devices will depend on materials and printing methods that are co-operatively informed by the requirements of the device and how it is fabricated. In this Perspective, we address the materials and methods requirements in 3D printable batteries and supercapacitors and outline requirements for the future of the field by linking existing performance limitations to the requirements of printable energy storage materials, casing materials and the direct printing of electrodes and electrolytes. We also look to the future by taking inspiration from additive manufacturing, to posit links between materials and printing methods to allow new form factor cells.