Executive Summary : | The Government of India's (GOI) key initiative such as Make in India, aimed at making India as the center for global manufacturing. such initiatives from GOI have facilitated industries like pharmaceuticals and apparel to excel. However, when it comes to intermediate industries such as batteries, specifically Lithium Ion Battery (LIB), India is still relying on imports. Considering that LIB is in huge demand in applications such as consumer electronics, electric vehicles, and stationary energy storage applications, the manufacturing of the LIB system needs immediate attention. Currently, LIB systems are commonly manufactured through the tape-casting process. However, it is difficult to achieve a high level of customization and flexibility in LIB systems manufactured using such processing routes. Another critical issue in the LIB system that needs to be addressed is the problem associated with the use of Lithium (Li) metal as an anode. Li as an anode results in an uncontrollable Li dendrite growth often resulting in the penetration of the separator due to inhomogeneous Li ion deposition during plating. One of the most promising solutions to this problem is the construction of 3D porous structures for the anode or current collector. A 3D porous electrode allows a higher surface-to-volume ratio thereby increasing the penetration of electrolytes and reduction in the ion diffusion paths. Thus, for the development of next-generation advanced LIB systems, it is necessary to achieve successful integration of systematic designing and advanced manufacturing such as 3D printing. Various studies have been reported that focused on the use of 3D printing for the fabrication of porous electrodes for LIB systems. Though, only a few studies have reported the fabrication of a fully 3D-printed LIB system using ordered porous electrodes. Fully 3D printing LIB systems are important for applications demanding a high level of flexibility such as wearable electronic devices and electric vehicles. Hence, the proposed project aims to fabricate a high-performance fully 3D-printed LIB system. To achieve this aim, it is proposed that a novel Cu-Zn alloy-based topologically ordered porous current collector will be fabricated using the direct ink writing (DIW) 3D printing technique. Thereafter, Li will be systematically deposited onto this current collector to form an anode. For the cathode, an ordered porous LiFe〖PO〗_4 will be fabricated using DIW 3D printing. A comprehensive morphological, mechanical, and electrochemical characterization will be performed to evaluate the optimum design and 3D printing process parameters. similarly, other critical elements such as separator and packaging will also be fabricated using 3D printing. subsequently, after validating the electrochemical performance of the 3D-printed elements of the LIB system, suitable application-based case studies will be carried out to establish proof of the concept of the proposed project. |