Engineering Papers⌕ Search
Home/Archive/DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI · 2585906

3D printed polymer gaskets for custom-form batteries

Cardenas, Jorge Antonio [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Raytheon Integrated Defense, Andover, MA (United States)]·Merrill, Laura Christine [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000176734519)·Maurel, Alexis [Univ. of Texas at El Paso, TX (United States)]·Martinez, Ana C. [Univ. of Texas at El Paso, TX (United States)]·Warren, Benjamin Alexander [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)]·Howe, Seth [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)]·Bullivant, John Paul [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)]·Harrison, Katharine L. [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)]·Cook, Adam W. [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)]·Roach, Devin J. [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States)]·Commisso, Alex Joseph [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000288255029)·Leguizamon, Samuel Carlos [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000333956562)·Linde, Carl Erik [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)]
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Additive manufacturing (AM) processes, like 3D printing, help to facilitate complex and customizable battery geometries which can provide design freedom and enhance volumetric energy density within electronic devices. AM materials must have the thermal and mechanical properties that enable printability, and when used in batteries, AM materials must also be chemically and electrochemically compatible with the battery chemistry. The compatibility between AM materials and the battery is of particular importance for the cell packaging materials which must be inert and are often overlooked. This study systematically studies AM-compatible polymeric materials for use as gaskets in lithium-ion cells. The materials investigated include three thermoplastics suitable for material extrusion printing: polylactic acid (PLA), polycarbonate, and polypropylene/polyethylene copolymer (PPPEC); and two photoresins suitable for vat photopolymerization (VPP) printing: an acrylate-based photoresin and a polyethylene glycol diacrylate photoresin. The AM gasket materials were tested in comparison to a conventional commercial polypropylene gasket. Mechanical testing (swell measurements and material stiffness) and electrochemical testing (linear sweep voltammetry and galvanostatic cycling of full cells) demonstrated that PLA and the VPP polymers were the least compatible with the lithium-ion battery chemistry, despite their prevalent use in studies of AM batteries, and that PPPEC was the most compatible.

Explore related subjects

3D printingBatteryBattery packagingGasketPolypropylene

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Cardenas, Jorge Antonio [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Raytheon Integrated Defense, Andover, MA (United States)], Merrill, Laura Christine [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000176734519), Maurel, Alexis [Univ. of Texas at El Paso, TX (United States)], Martinez, Ana C. [Univ. of Texas at El Paso, TX (United States)], Warren, Benjamin Alexander [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)], Howe, Seth [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)], Bullivant, John Paul [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)], Harrison, Katharine L. [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)], Cook, Adam W. [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)], Roach, Devin J. [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States)], Commisso, Alex Joseph [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000288255029), Leguizamon, Samuel Carlos [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000333956562), Linde, Carl Erik [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)]. 2025-08-10. 3D printed polymer gaskets for custom-form batteries. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.powera.2025.100184

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related reports

DOE OSTI2026

Design and scale-up of 3D printed bat houses with biomass-derived polymer composites

Biomass (e.g., pine sawdust, especially high–ash content pine sawdust) is commonly disposed of as waste. Combining biomass with polymers to make composite feedstocks for 3D printing has been explored as a method to reduce or repurpose the biomass waste. Although not all biocomposite properties are known, the wood-based polylactic acid (PLA) composite has promising qualities for applications in ecological settings. In this work, pine wood–PLA composite feedstock was used to 3D print supplemental roost structures for endangered tree-roosting bats, which often face a paucity of suitable naturally occurring roosts. This material combination was selected because it is estimated to degrade faster than the synthetic material systems that are used widely in supplemental bat roosting structures to aid in the conservation of tree roosting bats. The layered, rough surface created by the 3D printing process serves as a surface that bats can grip while roosting. Computer-aided design (CAD) models were generated based on natural roost structures, and a full-size bat house was successfully additively manufactured using a pellet-fed large-scale 3D printing system. The 3D printed hexagon exhibited a tensile strength of 22–23 MPa and a Young’s modulus of 3202–3218 MPa in the x-direction. It has been demonstrated that the 3D printed bat house can be installed on a tree in a stable fashion. This successful demonstration of a bat roost manufactured using a bioderived composite should promote its use in other fish and wildlife structures and broader industrial applications such as construction and automobiles.

3D printing↗
DOE OSTI2026

Toward Lithium Recovery Using Modular (and Membraneless) Phase Separation and Extraction (MPSE) Technology with Ionic Liquid (IL) Solvents: Effect of Coatings

In this work, a single-channel slope-plate Modular and Membrane-less Phase Separation and Extraction (MPSE) device was fabricated using 3D printing. The slope-plate was designed with an insertable glass slide to enable surface modification with coatings. Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) and perfluoropolyether (Zdol) coatings were applied to tailor surface wettability and enhance phase separation. Using a model biphasic system of water and hexadecane, both coatings significantly improved the separation efficiency compared to the uncoated device by promoting selective wetting. Building on these results, lithium extraction from a simulated saline solution was investigated using 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([EMIM][NTf₂]) as the ionic liquid (IL) extractant. The IL effectively extracted Li⁺ from the aqueous phase in bulk extraction, demonstrating its potential for lithium recovery. However, the low interfacial tension between the IL and aqueous phases posed challenges for phase separation. The application of SAM and Zdol coatings effectively mitigated this issue. Overall, integrating tailored surface chemistry with the slope-plate MPSE design shows great promise as an efficient and scalable platform for studying liquid–liquid separation and optimizing ionic liquid–based extraction processes for lithium recovery from saline sources.

3D printing↗
DOE OSTI2026

Proton beam enhancements from ultrafast laser interactions with compound parabolic concentrators

Target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) is among the most widely studied laser–plasma ion acceleration mechanisms. In this Letter, we report on studies of proton acceleration from flat Cu targets with cone-like focusing structures called compound parabolic concentrators (CPCs) coupled to their front surface. The CPC acts as a non-imaging focusing optic that enhances the laser intensity at the target's front surface by ∼2×, from 9 × 10 18 to 2 × 10 19 W/cm 2 . This effect drives a reduction in the particle source size from the typical laser spot size of 120 μm to the CPC tip size of 65 μm and significant enhancements in the peak energy and temperature (2.6 × increase) of the resulting TNSA proton beam. We also observe increased opening angle of the beam. 2D PIC simulations have been conducted and replicate the experimental behavior. These increases have implications for long focal length facilities that require higher energy proton beams, which now can be achieved without significant infrastructure changes.

3D printing↗