Making 'Wearable Back Customized Batteries' with 3D Printers

Key Performance of Current Collector for 3D Printing Battery Components
Development of Material Ensuring Both Electrical Conductivity and High Voltage Stability
Precise Battery Shapes Achievable Using Affordable Nickel

Metal Current Collector Ink and the Process of Battery Fabrication Based on 3D Printing Using It

[Asia Economy Reporter Junho Hwang] Domestic researchers have developed a battery material for 3D printing. It is a special ink material that can be used when developing batteries utilizing 3D printer technology. This technology is expected to contribute to the development of customized batteries used in future wearable devices, sensors, small robots, and implantable devices.

The Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology announced on the 26th that it has developed a 3D printing metal ink material that secures electrical conductivity and high-voltage stability by mixing tiny nickel particles and a small amount of polymer material. This technology, developed through joint research by senior researchers Youngmin Choi and Taeho Kim from the Chemical Materials Research Division of the institute and researchers from Kyung Hee University, was recently published in the international journal Advanced Functional Materials.

Making Batteries with a 3D Printer

When this material is printed and then exposed to light for an extremely short moment (1/1000 second), nickel particles sized between nanometers (nm) and micrometers (μm) in the ink connect with each other, greatly increasing electrical conductivity. At this time, a momentary photodecomposition phenomenon of the polymer material and a reduction reaction where nickel particles receive electrons from other particles occur, forming a conductive protective layer on the ink surface. This protective layer maintained stability for a long time even under the maximum voltage (3V) conditions of an electrode double-layer supercapacitor (EDLC) battery.

Additionally, the micro supercapacitor device applied with the newly developed material demonstrated an energy density comparable to devices made by conventional processes. A higher energy density means a longer usage time after a single battery charge.

In particular, since this material primarily uses nickel particles, the cost is very low. Furthermore, by varying the ratio of particles in the ink, the viscosity of the ink can be appropriately adjusted. This means that batteries of any shape can be precisely printed and manufactured.

Custom Battery Production Possible Using Printing Process

Evaluation Results of High Voltage (3V) Stability of Nickel Metal Current Collectors

Professor Sunho Jeong of Kyung Hee University stated, "The value of this research lies in developing a gap technology that enables the production of customized batteries using a printing process." Researcher Youngmin Choi explained, "This is a printable metal material technology that can be widely applied not only to supercapacitors but also to various secondary batteries requiring high voltage and high conductivity."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.