Improving the active material of the Zn anode is critical to improving the practicality of Zn-MnO2 battery technology. LLNL researchers have developed a new category of 3D structured Zn anode using a direct-ink writing (DIW) printing process to create innovative hierarchical architectures.  The DIW ink, which is a gel-based mixture composed of zinc metal powder and organic binders, is extruded…

By combining 3D printing and dealloying., researchers at LLNL have developed a method for fabricating metal foams with engineered hierarchical architectures consisting of pores at least 3 distinct length scales. LLNL’s method uses direct ink writing (DIW), a 3D printing technique for additive manufacturing to fabricate hierarchical nanoporous metal foams with deterministically controlled 3D…