Dec 8, 2014 | By Alec
Powering the planet is going to be one of the major challenges of the coming decades. While we do have a lot of available energy at the moment, most of that is generated using inefficient, polluting methods that can't exactly be called endless or sustainable. While not everyone might be on-board with the 'save the environment' agenda, who wouldn't agree that we have to think about long term methods for generating power? The (potential) answer? 3D printing.
3D printed ceramic cells. Photo: Shah Tissue Engineering and Additive Manufacturing Lab and Northwestern University
For one solution to our problems might be ceramic fuel cells, devices that generate electricity through a high-temperature electrochemical process. While much cleaner and more efficient than combustion engines, they do still rely on fuels. For fuel cells convert the chemical properties of substances like methane into electric energy 'electrocatalytically' rather than through combustion. This allows fuel cells to be highly energy efficient, especially as it also produces a lot of heat that has a variety of applications, such as space heating, hot water or to drive refrigeration cycles.
This makes them a possible solution for a low-carbon energy plan, alongside other power sources such as wind and solar, though we are still quite far away from commercially exploiting it. For one, efficiency and power density still needs to be improved upon. Other challenges include reproducing their materials, cells and testing conditions on a large scale. Various companies have therefore financially struggled to make this technology a commercial option.
Fortunately, researchers at Northwestern University have developed a 3D printing production method that could bring these ceramic fuel cells another step closer to commercial and affordable reality. They are working on a quick, cheap and efficient way to manufacture these ceramic fuel cells using a special 3D printable filament.
Speaking at the Materials Research Society's fall meeting in Boston this week, Ramille Shah, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, discussed their new production methods. They have developed an 'ink' that can be used to create the individual components of an oxide fuel cell: the cathode, anode, electrolyte, and interconnects. These are realized using a filament mix: 70 to 90 percent of the substance consists of ceramic particles, while the rest consists of a binder, and a cocktail of solvents.
During printing, the various solvents evaporate at different rates and thereby create a unique solidifying process. The most volatile ones evaporate almost instantly, creating a semi-solid shape that holds its form but can still bond to the layers printed on top of it. Depending on the components, the mixture varies slightly. Printing itself can be done at room temperature, though this special ceramic does have to be heated up to 1250° C to make it a solid and dense shape. 'We can get really densely packed particles in the printed structure'.
Researchers from this Northwestern team speculated that this 3D printing method could be used to develop a very easy manufacturing process for fuel cells. It could even produce unique shapes, like flat sheets of ceramic that can be rolled or folded into particular shapes for particular applications.
While more research will be necessary before such 3D printed fuel cells become a commercial reality, the development of this special type of ceramic filament is an important step into that direction. Perhaps 3D printing does hold the key to providing the ever-growing population with power.
Source: IEEE Spectrum
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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