Combining 3D printing of copper current collectors and electrophoretic deposition of electrode materials for structural lithium-ion batteries

Serving as a proof of concept, additive manufacturing and electrophoretic deposition are leveraged in this work to enable structural lithium-ion batteries with load-bearing and energy storage dual functionality. The preparation steps of a complex 3D printed copper current collector, involving the formulation of a photocurable resin formulation, as well as the vat photopolymerization process followed by a precursors-based solution soaking step and thermal post-processing are presented. Compression and microhardness testing onto the resulting 3D printed copper current collector are shown to demonstrate adequate mechanical performance. Electrophoretic deposition of graphite as a negative electrode active material and other additives was then performed onto the 3D printed copper collector, with the intention to demonstrate energy storage functionality. Half-cell electrochemical cycling of the 3D multi-material current collector/negative electrode versus lithium metal finally demonstrates that structural battery components can be successfully obtained through this approach.