Japanese Researchers Develop New 3D Printed Elecrodes For Batteries

Researchers from the Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan, recently announced the discovery of a new procedure, in which high-performance carbon micro lattice electrodes could be 3D printed for batteries. The newly introduced method that was published as a research article in the science journal, Small, could soon become an alternative way to produce cheaper and better-performing batteries. The effort may also be able to make the production and use of batteries less harmful to the environment.

When people became aware of the negative effects that gasoline-powered machines and vehicles had on the environment, it seemed like the problems could be solved by simply switching to the use of batteries instead. From that time on, no one seemed to question the new, supposedly entirely environmentally friendly option. It did not take long, however, until scientists found out that the simple alternative wasn’t as green as it seemed to be after all.

The use of batteries is increasing (Photo Credits: Tyler Lastovich)

While the use of batteries is, indeed, not harmful to our planet, the production and disposal of these sources of power, on the other hand, very much is. The hazardous chemicals involved in the production, as well as the dangerous battery acid, pose a big environmental threat of their own, and considering that more electronic devices are used nowadays than ever before, that threat is a growing cause for concern. While it is, of course, not an option to ban the use of batteries, the only way to make them more ecological is to find ways to make better use of them by achieving higher performance and therefore lowering the amount of those produced, as this recent discovery by Japanese researchers shows.