El presente art\u00edculo explora c\u00f3mo la Manufactura Aditiva (AM \/Impresi\u00f3n 3D \u2013 3DP) est\u00e1 revolucionando el dise\u00f1o de bater\u00edas, al permitir estructuras tridimensionales complejas que superan las limitaciones de los modelos planos tradicionales. A diferencia de las bater\u00edas convencionales, la AM \/ 3DP permite crear arquitecturas internas \u00f3ptimas, que mejoran tanto la capacidad como la velocidad de carga. Esta tecnolog\u00eda facilita la creaci\u00f3n de bater\u00edas con formas personalizadas, que pueden integrarse directamente en la estructura de dispositivos electr\u00f3nicos o robots, aprovechando espacios anteriormente considerados in\u00fatiles. Este avance es muy importante para la pr\u00f3xima generaci\u00f3n de dispositivos port\u00e1tiles, drones y veh\u00edculos el\u00e9ctricos, ya que contribuye a reducir el peso total y el desperdicio de materiales durante la producci\u00f3n. Una t\u00e9cnica que promete simplificar la fabricaci\u00f3n de componentes de \u201calmacenamiento de energ\u00eda a medida\u201d, adapt\u00e1ndose a las necesidades espec\u00edficas de cada tecnolog\u00eda.<\/p>\n
A superpowered\u00a0Formula 1<\/a>\u00a0car, a buzzing drone, a soldier\u2019s pack, and a wearable smart device have this in common: They all need\u00a0batteries<\/a>. Ideally, those batteries could fit into oddly shaped nooks, curves, and voids, something that today\u2019s cylindrical or rectangular cells struggle to do. Engineer Gabe Elias, who helped design the\u00a0Mercedes-AMG Petronas<\/a>\u00a0racers that won seven consecutive F1 championships, cofounded a startup to\u00a03D print<\/a>\u00a0batteries onto surfaces, flowing into those unused spaces in all kinds of devices and vehicles.<\/p>\n The company recently won a US $1.25 million, 18-month contract with the U.S. Air Force to prove its tech\u2019s potential. It joins competitors such as\u00a0Saku\u00fa<\/a>, in\u00a0Silicon Valley<\/a>, and Germany\u2019s Blackstone Technology, in a race to popularize printed batteries that can conform to various shapes. Soon after Elias cofounded\u00a0Material Hybrid Manufacturing\u00a0<\/a>in 2023, his group realized that their initial pitch\u2014printing batteries in new shapes for\u00a0passenger cars<\/a>\u2014was stuck in neutral.\u00a0EVs<\/a>, especially bigger ones, don\u2019t have pressing space constraints for batteries. Electric\u00a0SUVs<\/a>\u00a0and pickup trucks from\u00a0Rivian<\/a>, where Elias also worked, can fit 7,776 cylindrical batteries into a brawny, 135 kilowatt-hour pack.<\/p>\n So, the company changed lanes to smaller devices with wasted space it could stuff with energy. The Hybrid3D, a proprietary manufacturing platform, can print full-stack batteries in situ: Anode, cathode, separator and casing, with no molds or costly tooling required. The tech eliminates the metal casings, bus bars and other components that hog space in conventional cells. Material\u2019s\u00a0active battery material can fill voids and follow three-dimensional curves: Think the wing of a drone, or the slender, curling arm of a pair of\u00a0smart glasses<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThings are shrinking, so we\u2019re shrinking around it,\u201d Elias says. \u201cElectronics are becoming embedded, consolidated, optimized, and batteries are the only part of that equation that\u2019s being left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n The company has teamed with\u00a0Performance Drone Works<\/a>\u00a0(PDW) to push its tech toward commercialization. For the initial project, the companies will show how much active battery their 3D material can pack into the same modular space that holds 48\u00a0cylindrical cells<\/a>\u00a0in an existing drone. Even in that simplified, proof-of-concept drone, the printed battery achieves a 50 percent boost in\u00a0energy density<\/a>, and uses 35 percent more available volume.<\/p>\n \u201cThat gives you a bunch of options,\u201d Elias says. \u201cYou could either fly 50 percent farther, or decrease the size of the battery pack, fit more payload, and cover the same distance.\u201d<\/p>\n Fit for purpose<\/strong><\/p>\n Next-gen designs could boost those gains by dispersing battery material around drone frames,\u00a0electric motors<\/a>, or other surfaces. Notoriously heavy military backpacks\u2014stuffed with bulky, square batteries\u2014could be lighter and ergonomically shaped. Military helmets could directly integrate batteries that power head-mounted gear.<\/p>\n When he was still at Mercedes, Elias tried to wrap conventional cells around a driver\u2019s seat to improve the layout. Even in the rarefied realm of F1 racing, where top teams spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year in the service of speed, Mercedes simply gave up.<\/p>\n \u201cWe ended up stopping the project, just knocking our heads against the wall because it\u2019s so complicated to take these little cylindrical cells, wedge them into spaces and tie them together in the configuration you want,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Material\u2019s batteries, he says, are the natural evolution of\u00a0carbon fiber<\/a>\u00a0or other composite structures in\u00a0automobiles<\/a>, including\u00a0\u201ccell to pack\u201d construction<\/a>\u00a0that eliminates modules and makes batteries integral parts of structures.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re turning\u00a0energy storage<\/a>\u00a0into a subsystem, just like all the other subsystems on a car,\u201d Elias says.<\/p>\n Material\u2019s first commercial-scale printer\u2019s bed measures 550 by 350 millimeters, with plans to greatly expand that surface. Its tech is essentially a hybrid of direct ink printing and\u00a0fused deposition modeling<\/a>, two of several techniques being developed by companies vying to bring these energy sources to market.<\/p>\n Critically, the tech would allow batteries to go from prototype to printing, with no need for expensive, time-consuming retooling. Material\u2019s printer platform can already handle a variety of chemistries and formats with simple changes in materials and software coding, he says.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve printed NMC 811 and NMC 111, LFP and lithium-titanate oxide (LTO), to name a few,\u201d Elias says. \u201cWe\u2019re chemistry-agnostic.\u201d<\/p>\n Material\u2019s cells currently use liquid electrolyte, added via an infusion process, but the company has a working road map toward solid-state designs. Challenges include tuning battery materials to flow properly from printer nozzles; and to deposit that material in uniform, repeatable layers, roughly 100 to 150 micrometers thick, to ensure high quality and yields.<\/p>\n \u201cBatteries really live and die by layer thicknesses,\u201d Elias says.<\/p>\n Elias notes that Apple and other companies are investing massive amounts of money to\u00a0create conformable batteries<\/a>, such as the L-shaped batteries in some iPhones, but are using costly and limited traditional methods. And with\u00a0consumer electronics<\/a>\u00a0giants fighting to popularize\u00a0wearable devices<\/a>, printed batteries are an enticing solution for their packaging and power needs. Elias points to Apple\u2019s\u00a0Tim Cook<\/a>, who has gone from an AR skeptic to a champion of smart glasses. But consumers won\u2019t really bite, he believes, until the form factor says \u201cRay-Ban stylish\u201d rather than \u201cfour-eyed dork.\u201d<\/p>\n