3D printed hierarchically-porous microlattice electrode materials for exceptionally high specific capacity and areal capacity lithium ion batteries

Despite the enormous potential of additive manufacturing in fabricating three-dimensional battery electrodes, the structures realized through this technology are mainly limited to the interdigitated geometries due to the nature of the manufacturing process. This work reports a major advance in 3D batteries, where highly complex and controlled 3D electrode architectures with a lattice structure and a hierarchical porosity are realized by 3D printing. Microlattice electrodes with porous solid truss members (Ag) are fabricated by Aerosol Jet 3D printing that leads to an unprecedented improvement in the battery performance such as 400% increase in specific capacity, 100% increase in areal capacity, and a high electrode volume utilization when compared to a thin solid Ag block electrode. Further, the microlattice electrodes retain their morphologies after 40 electrochemical cycles, demonstrating their mechanical robustness. These results indicate that the 3D microlattice structure with a hierarchical porosity enhances the electrolyte transport through the electrode volume, increases the available surface area for electrochemical reaction, and relieves the intercalation-induced stress; leading to an extremely robust high capacity battery system. Results presented in this work can lead to new avenues for improving the performance of a wide range of electrochemical energy storage systems.