Towards roll-to-roll printed batteries based on organic electrodes for printed electronics applications

There is a growing interest in smart packaging applications and small IoT devices realized as printed electronic devices. Because of their electrical nature, these printed devices require small rechargeable energy sources for their repeatable functionality. For these reasons, the printing of rechargeable batteries alongside the main printed electronics features is welcome, especially if it is realized by the roll-to-roll (R2R) process. A reliable R2R printing process is an advantage and it is a solution overcoming technology difficulties related with the conventional approach of bonding pouch cells to these devices. R2R printing process allows battery manufacturing in the same printing line, at the same substrate, with proper shape and required capacity. Because most of the printed electronic devices are manufactured by R2R printing processes we present a study that is focused on the development of electrode materials towards fully R2R printed secondary batteries based on easily accessible materials and printed by robust and scalable technology. We demonstrate a fully R2R printed secondary battery with open-circuit voltage (OCV) higher than 2.0 V where an organic-based anode and a cathode without Co and Ni are used. The R2R printed secondary battery could be assembled at ambient conditions, which is important for the development of a cheap industrial R2R manufacturing process without inert atmosphere requirements. The R2R printed battery assembled at ambient conditions provides 100 cycles with a capacity of over 50 mAh/g. In the presented study, it was demonstrated that printed PAQS electrodes could be used also in the Na-ion batteries with a capacity of over 120 mAh/g.

Automated summary

There is a growing interest in utilizing R2R printing process to manufacture rechargeable batteries alongside printed electronic devices for smart packaging applications. The study demonstrates the advantages of R2R printing process in providing stable and rechargeable batteries that can be assembled at ambient conditions, with a focus on developing electrode materials for fully R2R printed secondary batteries.