Aerosol jet printed lithium battery

A method of manufacturing a three-dimensional electrochemical lithium battery, the method comprising:

• forming a first electrode on an underlying layer comprising aerosolizing a first ink formulation comprising a slurry including nanoparticles or microparticles of a first active material and a binder, and depositing the slurry onto the underlying layer to form a first electrode layer;
• forming a permeable separator layer on the first electrode comprising aerosolizing a slurry comprising metal oxide nanoparticles or microparticles and a binder, and depositing the slurry onto the first electrode;
• and
• forming a second electrode on the permeable separator layer comprising aerosolizing a second ink formulation comprising a slurry including nanoparticles or microparticles of a second active material and a binder, and depositing the slurry onto the permeable separator layer.

An aerosol jet printing method for manufacturing a permeable separator layer for a battery, the method comprising:

• aerosolizing a solution comprising a polymer precursor and a photoinitiator to generate an aerosolized stream within an aerosol jet printing device;
• exposing the aerosolized stream to a first activating radiation source to form partially cured polymer spheres therein;
• focusing and discharging the aerosolized stream of partially cured polymer spheres from the aerosol jet printing device onto a substrate to form a permeable separator layer of the partially cured polymer spheres;
• and
• exposing the partially cured polymer spheres on the substrate to a second activating radiation source subsequent to the discharging to fully cure the partially cured polymer spheres and form the permeable separator layer.