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The Secret Revolution in Battery Technology: 3-D Printing (msn.com) 50

Posted by EditorDavid from the battery-up dept.
"There's a revolution in battery technology hiding in plain sight," reports The Wall Street Journal. "The 3-D printing of batteries has the potential to put energy storage inside any device.

"This will enable lightweight and long-lasting consumer gadgets, long-range military drones and even nanoscale robots." Almost all the innovations we regularly hear about — from cheaper, tougher electric-vehicle batteries to "Holy Grail" solid-state batteries — are about changing the chemistry of batteries. The promise of battery-tech 3-D printing (aka additive manufacturing) is simple: What if batteries could fill any available space, even structural elements of our gadgets, rather than always taking a rigid shape like a pouch or cylinder?

The new approach has obvious appeal. The entire airframe of a drone could be filled with energy storage for increased range. Smartglasses could have sleek battery-packed frames, so they look like everyday eyewear rather than "Revenge of the Nerds" props. One of the biggest advantages of 3-D printing is that it works with any battery, regardless of its cell chemistry. It could advance today's lithium-ion as well as emerging sodium-ion and solid-state tech... Some [startups] are trying to use 3-D printing to create efficiencies in existing battery manufacturing systems. A brave handful of startups are pursuing radical new designs and approaches. They're starting with defense applications, where cost and scale are less of an issue...

At Silicon Valley-based Sakuu... [r]ather than trying to 3-D-print whole batteries, the company is working on replacing one of battery manufacturing's biggest pain points, says Arwed Niestroj, Sakuu's chief operating officer, who is also a nuclear physicist and former head of Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America. Existing battery assembly lines include football-field-long ovens for drying layers of material that have been dissolved in solvents. This requires a huge amount of energy and is a significant contributor to manufacturing costs, a big reason EV batteries aren't cheaper. Sakuu's process, under development for years, uses additive manufacturing to lay down key battery components without solvents, eliminating the need for ovens, says Niestroj.

Sakuu is currently working to commercialize this tech with a major battery manufacturer...
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The Secret Revolution in Battery Technology: 3-D Printing

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  • drone battery size (Score:5, Insightful)

    by phantomfive ( 622387 ) on Sunday June 21, 2026 @07:39PM (#66203296) Journal

    The entire airframe of a drone could be filled with energy storage for increased range.

    Aren't drone ranges largely limited by weight instead of battery storage space?

    • Re:drone battery size (Score:5, Interesting)

      by dinfinity ( 2300094 ) on Sunday June 21, 2026 @08:28PM (#66203332)

      Aren't drone ranges largely limited by weight instead of battery storage space?

      Generally, yes. It may make some sense for aerodynamic winged drones, but those generally just use some type of gasoline / jet fuel.
      It could make sense for race or other high speed drones like interceptors, where aerodynamic drag is a big factor.

      For consumer electronics the legal requirement that batteries must be user replaceable renders this idea dead in the water in the entire EU.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by LIGAFF ( 225383 )

        Are phones excluded from this law?

        • Are phones excluded from this law?

          Depends on how far you can throw it. I could probably cause a phone to become a short-range drone.

        • No, have you not been paying attention to the stories we've run about this on Slashdot?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by tsqr ( 808554 )

        Aren't drone ranges largely limited by weight instead of battery storage space?

        Generally, yes. It may make some sense for aerodynamic winged drones, but those generally just use some type of gasoline / jet fuel. It could make sense for race or other high speed drones like interceptors, where aerodynamic drag is a big factor.

        There are many "aerodynamic winged drones" that are battery-powered - Raven, Puma, and the various flavors of Switchblades are a few examples - not to mention unmanned ground and underwater ones. And notably, the Ingenuity helicopter that performed so well on Mars.

        Weight and drag are key factors in endurance for air vehicles, which is why long-endurance quadcopters are rare. Even the fuel-carrying drones are weight sensitive. Designers take great pains to make the airframes as light as possible to increase

      • For consumer electronics the legal requirement that batteries must be user replaceable renders this idea dead in the water in the entire EU.

        No it doesn't. The only requirement is that batteries are accessible a) without barriers (in this case meaning non-reusable adhesives), b) with standard tools or where special tools are required that the manufacturer provides these tools (e.g. Apple's lobed screwdriver is allowed providing they ship the device with said screwdriver), and c) the battery available for purchase for 5 years.

        Also the commission is currently reviewing if some devices need to be exempt.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

          It does. It requires that batteries be "removeable by the end-user" and that replacement batteries should also be availble to the end-user. The definition of end-user replaceable is as you say though.

          It seems the EU thinks the ability to use basic tools is a reasonable requirement, unlike the average Slashdot user.

          • It does not, your post is not in conflict with mine. There's no requirement for tools to be basic. The requirement is that if the tools aren't basic that they be provided to the user. Making a complex embedded battery buried in a device is perfectly allowed under EU rules providing the user is given tools required to replace the battery and the battery is available for sale. The expectation is that basic tools (e.g. a philips head screwdriver) do *not* need to be provided to the user.

            The only restriction ag

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

              The OP said (and you quoted):

              For consumer electronics the legal requirement that batteries must be user replaceable renders this idea dead in the water in the entire EU.

              You said it doesn't. I assume now that you objected to only the second part of that sentence but you did not specify. The EU required does require that batteries must be user replaceable, using almost exactly those words: batteries must be "removeable by the end-user" and replacement batteries "available to the end-user."

              Making a complex emb

    • Sure, ultimately it's weight. But given the choice of (Battery Weight + Airframe Weight) or (Battery/Airframe Weight) where the latter may be significantly lighter, you get efficiency. Maybe it doesn't save space, but if it saves weight that would translate to greater range or payload capacity or similar.

  • The batteries would have to be specially designed to fit in the 3d print. 3d printing by itself is both slower and more expensive than injection molding (unless it is a small run). Throw in custom batteries are you are probably making the items 10x more expensive for a moderate sized job. Economies of scale might work for something we are making in the tens of thousands.

    • You seem to have misunderstood.

      The claim here is the battery cells are themselves 3D printed, not that they are stuffing already made cells into a 3D printed object. The batteries would not have to "fit in" the 3D print, they would be the 3D print.

      So it's actually dumber than you thought.
      =Smidge=

      • So it's actually dumber than you thought.

        Interesting. I think the main problem with this approach is human limitations of thought. If we fire all the engineers and let AI do everything this will synergistically push the envelope to a new paradigm. -CEO

    • Just wait for the 4D printers. They will be truly amazing.

      • We already have printers called 4d printers. It's designed to change shape over time. This allows you to print something with less supports that while 'drying' bends itself into a shape that would have required a lot more supports.

        • 5 axis printers using non-planar slicing are becoming more common in pro use, they allow you to print things without supports which would have required supports.

  • Well, that's convenient (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Krishnoid ( 984597 ) on Sunday June 21, 2026 @07:59PM (#66203314) Journal
    So when the battery dies, you can throw the whole device away!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by evanh ( 627108 )

      Luckily, the big news here is not that the battery shape can be anything but rather that there is a huge reduction in electricity needed to manufacture the battery. Pity that wasn't the headline.

      • You say there "is" a huge reduction in electricity needed.

        However, the words, "is currently working to commercialize this tech" means we, and they, have no idea yet what the energy savings actually will be, if there are any. There may be. There may not be. And if it's more expensive, which remains possible, it doesn't even matter.

    • Well, if the battery is 3d printed to fill the chassis most of the failure states result in a 10,000 degree fire, so you may not even need to throw it away, it may simply vaporize.

    • Re:Well, that's convenient (Score:5, Interesting)

      by markdavis ( 642305 ) on Sunday June 21, 2026 @10:51PM (#66203426)

      >"So when the battery dies, you can throw the whole device away!"

      Indeed. And then it is also extremely difficult to try and recover the battery for recycling, as well, I assume.

      So these devices become toxic, non-reusable, non-fixable, highly flammable, dangerous messes.

  • Invest your money in this ingenious idea and get rich quick!

  • How much do the printer cartridges cost?

    • How much do the printer cartridges cost?

      Don't worry, you'll also be able to 3-D print the cartridges - along with the printer. :-)

      [Like with the turtles [wikipedia.org], it'll be 3-D printing all the way down.]

    • Filament spools, not cartridges. It is a 3D printer after all. The main question is - can it be printed without an enclosure? Asking for an Ender 3.

      • Some professional printers do have their spools in cartridges, and refuse to work without them...

  • Doesn't the risk of damaging the cell and causing a fire go up as you make the battery thinner?

    • Yep but the solution is to make a battery that's inherently safer... like able to be cut in half and still work or stabbed with a metal nail and not deflagrate like ProLogium.
  • Consumer battery technology is *still* complete junk. These things don't last so I would not even consider making them part of any structure unless it is a disposable product like a military drone. The only weird exception of 'good' consumer battery technology are the Braun toothbrushes. They have had contactless induction charging for decades and they last for a looong time, kind of suspicious actually.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by rta ( 559125 )

      not sure what you man by battery technology being junk.

      Current batteries are awesome. Remember NiCad ? What's NOT awesome is manufacturers making them non-replaceable to save a few grams and $ and claiming it's because of "water resistance".

      And, imo the toothbrushes are the same. i've been happy with the Oral-b ones (also induction.. though after a year or two already shorter battery life than when new), but there's no reason why it can't have some sort of screw on mechanism and use some standard

  • So if somehow the battery fails you must throw away your device/car/drone/airplane/etc.

  • Late to the party (Score:3)

    by labnet ( 457441 ) on Monday June 22, 2026 @02:18AM (#66203570)

    Tesla has already solved the

    Existing battery assembly lines include football-field-long ovens for drying layers of material that have been dissolved in solvents.

    problem and now using dry process for anode and cathode at scale with their 4680 cells.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Cylindrical cells are not the future though, they are older tech and have proven to be largely inferior to prismatic and blade batteries. Prismatic cells for lower cost and higher energy density, blade batteries for extreme performance. Tesla is using older chemistry too.

    • Manufacturing round cells is a step into the past, not solving a problem of today. Tesla's "solution" to the 4680 problem, solved the problem only if you're using round cells. Most consumer devices (and many cars) no longer do for very good reason.

  • ProLogium ships batteries that don't grow lithium crystals, don't catch on fire, and last longer. Honestly, such characteristics should be government regulated as the absolute minimum standard and NMC & LiPo & LFP batteries should generally be banned because they're just too dangerous like indoor whale oil lighting.

  • "... football-field-long ovens for drying layers of material that have been dissolved in solvents..."

    Hyperbolic language meant to spur some sort of emotional reaction, I guess?
    This process : deposition of a dissolved solid and then the solvents being driven of by a long, gentle drying process, is pretty common in industry as a method. For example just about every self adhesive product uses this process for its release coating.

  • Solid state batteries are not 3D printed.

    They are 2D pained.

    A few layers of magical "chemicals" painted on top of each other.

    Has absolutely nothing to do with your 3D printer, regardless if it spits out plastic or a metal alloy.

  • Integral drone batteries would reduce complexity and likely
    enhance structural strength. Warheads could similarly integrate explosive filler (with removable fuses for the usual transportation and handling safety reasons) and projectiles. Circuit boards could be rigidly supported without complex parts.

    The simpler and more water and weatherproof a munition the better. Printing makes prototyping and mission-specific custom loads easy to fab. A nearly-non-metallic, low observable AI-assisted integral munitions

  • '3-D printing.' (Score:3)

    by Fly Swatter ( 30498 ) on Tuesday June 23, 2026 @02:28AM (#66205222) Homepage
    You know, in an ASCII terminal font that comes off as an entirely different subject...

    - the good ol' days

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