Inkjet and Aerosol Jet Printing of Electrochemical Devices for Energy Conversion and Storage

Abstract

Inkjet and aerosol jet printing have recently emerged as promising fabrication techniques for a broad range of devices for electrochemical energy conversion and storage – batteries, fuel cells, and supercapacitors. If fully realized, these printing techniques may enable device performance advantages accruing from precise micron scale patterning, thin layer deposition, and materials grading. Printing may also allow scalable, low materials waste manufacturing, and conformal integration of power elements into structural elements. This article reviews the fundamental capabilities of inkjet and aerosol jet printing relevant to electrochemical devices, surveys current literature, and presents future challenges which must be tackled to achieve high performance, printed electrochemical energy storage, and conversion devices.