Current State of 3D Printing Technologies and Materials

Storage of energy is crucial in the future society where sustainable energy sources will become dominating. The intermittent nature of energy sources as wind and solar makes it necessary to improve the energy storage solutions. Generally, 3D printed electrode structures can be divided into two classes reflecting the strategy for battery assembly: 3D structuring of 2-dimensional electrode surfaces and interdigitated patterns for in situ built 3-dimensional electrode/electrolyte structures. When 3D-printing an entire battery the goal is to prepare an all-solid-state battery, and one of the key requirements is therefore to be able to print a solid electrolyte. Solid electrolytes for solid state lithium-ion batteries can be divided into organic and inorganic materials. A further development into true 3-dimensional interdigitated patterns could be one of the next steps in development of 3D-printed batteries.