Publication Date
2016
Document Type
Dissertation
Committee Members
Michael Durstock (Committee Member), Hong Huang (Advisor), Sharmila Mukhopadhyay (Committee Member), Christopher Muratore (Committee Member), Henry Young (Committee Member)
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Abstract
The future of electronic devices, such as smart skins, embedded electronics, and wearable applications, requires a disruptive innovation to the design of conventional batteries. This research was thus aimed at leveraging additive manufacturing as a means to invigorate the design of next-generation Li-ion batteries to meet the emerging requirements of flexible electronics. First, a state-of-the art approach for achieving flexible Li-ion batteries, using a robust, multi-walled carbon nanotube mat as current collector was demonstrated. A unique mechanical device was constructed to experimentally observe the correlation between mechanical fatigue and electrochemical stability. Points of failure in the conventional architecture were evaluated for improvement. Further, ink formulations were developed for printing both electrode and electrolyte membranes. Upon optimization of electrode porosity and electrical conductivity, application constraints, such as internal resistance, cycle life, and mechanical integrity, were studied to ensure maintenance of battery performance throughout the additive manufacturing process. Under similar evaluation, an electrolyte membrane fabricated using a phase inversion method with the addition of ceramic filler was revealed to impart a number of desirable performance characteristics (e.g., thermal stability, dendrite suppression) immediately upon extrusion and drying. Finally, a sequentially 3D-printed, full battery stack using these ink formulations was demonstrated to achieve targeted capacity and energy density requirements of 1 mAh cm-2 and 1.8 mWh cm-2, respectively.
Page Count
153
Department or Program
Ph.D. in Engineering
Year Degree Awarded
2016
Copyright
Copyright 2016, some rights reserved. My ETD may be copied and distributed only for non-commercial purposes and may not be modified. All use must give me credit as the original author.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
