Studies and Characterization Of 3D Printed Ceramic Electrolytes for Batteries

Recent advances in 3D printing not only bring interest in the design of all-solid state battery components, but also support the optimization and study of processing properties. Thanks to its flexibility in terms of ink formulations and resulting architectures, this technique offers the possibility of creating customizable shapes that allow a new approach, not permitted by conventional manufacturing methods. However, challenges remain in optimizing formulations, printing parameters, and performance to develop and maintain a printable architecture before considering its integration into a system.<br/><br/>Due to the limited information available in the literature, the objective of this work is to investigate the properties of 3D printed ceramic electrolytes. The first part of the study focuses on evaluating the printability of various solid composite electrolytes with complex architectures. The direct-ink writing technique will be discussed, including the development of ceramic ink formulations with different compositions using a sacrificial polymer. The printability of these inks will be investigated by rheological studies. Other aspects will be related, such as the influence of thermal treatments and architectures on the structural (print fidelity) and electrical properties of the material. These properties are investigated using characterization methods such as XRD, SEM, optical profilometry, and EIS. These tests are performed to compare and optimize system properties, with an emphasis on the geometric deformations that occur during the sintering step after 3D printing.<br/><br/>The optimization of this proof-of-concept shows how the processing of ceramic electrolyte via 3D printing, will impact the structure, electrical properties, and thus the performances.