2023-05-28 16:00:00
A research team led by chemist Dmitry Momotenko has developed a new 3D printing technique for making ultra-small metal objects. By using this technique, researchers aim to significantly increase the surface area of battery electrodes in order to drastically reduce charging times.
In less than a minute, chemist Liaisan Khasanova transforms a simple silica glass tube into a printing nozzle for a very special 3D printer. “A laser beam inside the device heats the tube and pulls it apart. Then we suddenly increase the pulling force so that the glass breaks in the middle and a very sharp point is formed“, explains Khasanova, PhD student in chemistry in the Electrochemical Nanotechnology group.
They need these tiny nozzles to print incredibly small three-dimensional metal structures. “We try to push 3D printing to its technological limits“, says Dr. Dmitry Momotenko, who leads the junior research group at the Institute of Chemistry. His goal : “We want to assemble objects atom by atom.”
“Metals are the perfect solution“, he says. He envisions many applications for metal objects, especially in areas such as microelectronics, nanorobotics, sensor and battery technology: “Electrically conductive materials are needed for all sorts of applications in these fields, so metals are the perfect solution.“
However, transferring this to the nanoscale requires a great deal of ingenuity, effort and care. To prevent unwanted vibrations from disrupting the printing process, two of the printers are housed in boxes covered with a thick layer of dark acoustic foam and rest on granite slabs each weighing 150 kilograms.
Besides, Liaisan Khasanova has prepared everything for a test print. What will it print? “Just a few columns“, she replies. Columns are the simplest geometric shapes generated in 3D printing, but researchers ofOldenburg can also print spirals, rings and all kinds of cantilever structures.
Momotenko’s plans for his nano-imprinting technique are also quite amazing: his goal is to lay the foundation for batteries that can be charged a thousand times faster than current models. “If this can be achieved, you could charge an electric car in seconds“, he explains.
The main idea he pursues is already 20 years old. The principle is to considerably shorten the paths of the ions inside the battery during the charging process. To do this, the electrodes, which are currently flat, should have a three-dimensional surface structure.
Momotenko took up this challenge. In his projet NANO-3D-LIONwhich is funded by a European Research Council Seed Grant awarded in March 2021, the goal is to develop and employ advanced nanoscale 3D printing techniques to fabricate active battery materials with ultrasmall structural features .
The chemist is also working on other bold concepts. He wants to use his printing technique to produce metal structures that allow more targeted control of chemical reactions than before. He also hopes to make sensors that can detect individual molecules. “This would be useful in medicine, to detect tumor markers or Alzheimer’s biomarkers at extremely low concentrations, for example“, that Momotenko.
All these ideas are still very new in chemistry. “It’s not yet clear how this would all work“, he admits. But this is how it is in science: “Every meaningful research project requires long thought and planning, and most ideas fail in the end.“, he concludes with a smile. But sometimes they succeed – and he and his team have already taken the first successful steps on their journey.
illustration caption / A very special kind of 3D printer: Masters student Simon Sprengel makes the final adjustments to allow two metal solutions to flow through the tiny print nozzle simultaneously. Photo: UOL/Daniel Schmidt
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#nanoprinting #ultrafast #battery #charging