3D打印电池终于成为现实 功能强大体积小

新华网11月27日电 据美国科技博客Gizmodo报道，虽然3D打印可以用于手枪甚至飞机引擎，但是打印电池在不久之前还是非常头疼的问题。现在出现的新墨水和工具使得3D打印锂电池变得更加可能。

技术评论网（Technology Review）刚刚看过哈佛大学材料科学家詹尼佛·路易斯的成果，报道说虽然技术还处在早期阶段，但是看起来3D打印的电池不久就能和我们见面了。詹尼佛的使用一系列“有功能的墨水，它们可以硬化成电池和简单的元件，包括点击、导线和天线。”这种墨水基本上就是目的材料纳米粒子的胶质悬浊液——如果打印电池就用锂，打印导线就用银。

高压挤压机在室温下把墨水精确地挤到预定的位置。墨水在打印过程中就凝固了，很快就可以形成元件，所以只要几分钟就能制造出简单的电池。

这为什么很有用呢？技术评论网的解释说：

她打印的锂离子电池只有1平方毫米大小，但性能和商用电池不相上下，因为路易斯可以处理微结构，精度可以达到100纳米，并且结构和更大的电池一样。

换句话说，这种电池不但能够取代传统电池，体积还会减小很多。考虑到现在移动设备里电池占的比重，这是很不错的。

译者：林杉

百度新闻与新华网国际频道合作稿件，转载请注明出处。

Scientists Have Figured Out How to 3D Print Batteries

Guns? Sure. Airplane engines? Why not! But 3D printing batteries has caused some headaches among researchers—until now. Because new inks and tools are making 3D-printed lithium ion cells a very real possibility.

Technology Review has taken a look at the work of Harvard materials scientist Jennifer Lewis and reports that, though in its early stages, it seems 3D printed batteries will be heading our way before long. Her technique uses a series of "functional inks that can solidify into batteries and simple components, including electrodes, wires, and antennas." Essentially, they\'re suspensions of nanoparticles of the desired materials—say lithium for batteries or silver for wires—which float in a binder.

They\'re deposited with extreme accuracy using high-pressure extruders—watch the GIF below—which force out the ink at room temperature. Almost solid at the time of printing, the material dries quickly to form components, so creating a simple battery from scratch can take just minutes.

And why\'s this so useful? Technology Review explains:

Her printed lithium-ion batteries are as tiny as one millimeter square but perform as well as commercial batteries, because Lewis can render microscale architectures, and position structures with 100-nanometer accuracy, to mirror the structures of much bigger batteries.

In other words, these 3D-printed batteries might be able to replace conventional cells and yet be a fraction of the size. And given how much space li-ion takes up on gadgets these days, that can\'t be a bad thing.