3D Printed Microbatteries

Creators

Jennifer Lewis, a materials scientist at Harvard University, and her team have created a lithium-ion battery that fits comfortably on the head of a pin. This battery is one of the smallest batteries ever made, and it was created using a 3D printer. Making a working battery with a 3D printer requires a custom machine that lays down new materials loaded with lithium-metal-oxide particles. The average 3D printer only manipulates plastic. This is useful for many other things, but not so useful when it comes to creating a battery.

3D Printed Microbatteries

Illustration courtesy of Jennifer A. Lewis.

The 3D printer printed a pair of five-fingered electrodes that interlock together. The paste then hardened and this process was repeated many times to increase the height of the electrodes. The final product weighs less than 100 micrograms and included 16 strata submerged in an electrolyte solution. Despite being small, gram for gram it stores almost as much energy as a larger lithium-ion battery.

3D printed batteries could be very useful for creating custom batteries for many different applications. This customizability will be appealing for use in cellphones, laptops and even small robots. This process also opens the door to creating other things using 3D printing. A list of patents that are related to to this technology is provided below.