The 3D printing market is shifting, and companies sometimes have to move into other areas, but there’s one that is not as popular as it could be: batteries.
As I wrote yesterday, there are big troubles for some companies in the 3D print space. New companies emerge with new tech that disrupts the markets. Buyers head elsewhere unless companies can keep up, but that can be an expensive proposition for smaller companies.
Instead, some distressed companies simply change their application market. Years ago, MakerBot did this by switching from consumers to education, for example.
We’ve seen this type of pivot for many years. Usually, companies slide into one of these application areas:
- High-temperature materials
- Professional prototyping
- Education
- Dental
- Jewellery
- Medical devices
- Fashion/Sports
- Military
But there’s another one that struck me today after reading some material from Photocentric.
Photocentric is an ambitious UK-based firm that began by marketing photopolymer resins many years ago. Since then, they began building their own (initially) primitive desktop 3D printers, but lately, they have grown significantly and now market some of the largest resin 3D printers available. They also market Jeni, a fully automated cell system that acts like a huge 3D print factory.
If that wasn’t enough, Photocentric also wrote about how they are getting into 3D-printed batteries. They realized that conventional battery production requires the use of N-Methyl-2-Pyrrolidone (NMP) to dissolve binders used in coating battery cathodes. NMP turns out to be quite a handful to manage, as it requires high energy, specialized safety systems, and material recovery systems.
Photocentric realized they could accomplish the same results with far less energy and toxicity using a 3D-printed approach with specially formulated resins. They explain:
”We’ve developed a photopolymer-based binder system that requires no solvents, no drying ovens, and no high energy inputs. Instead, it cures rapidly under UV or LED light, forming a stable, uniform cathode coating.
One of the biggest challenges with photopolymers in battery applications is the very nature of the materials we’re coating. Cathode powders – especially dark ones like NMC or LFP – tend to absorb light. That’s a problem when your curing process depends on it.
By tuning photoinitiators, modifying resin chemistry, and optimising the wavelength of exposure, we made sure our binder system cures quickly and evenly, even with highly light-absorbing powders. The result is a smooth, reliable, and scalable cathode coating process that dramatically reduces environmental impact and cost.”
This is a very smart and strategic move because of the growing electrification trend around the world. More and more devices and systems are switching to more efficient electrical equivalents, and these applications all require batteries. There will be an astounding demand for batteries in the near future. It appears that Photocentric wants to get on that train.
Their concept would be to sell their process, equipment, and materials to Gigafactories that produce batteries. Lowering the costs of production and increasing safety would be of considerable interest. The scale of battery production will be so vast that even small percentage savings could be gigantic. However, it sounds like Photocentric’s process could save far more.
Obviously, this is a very good move by Photocentric, but it begs the question: why aren’t more 3D printer manufacturers leaning into the electrification boom? This is an area that will be enormous, and clearly, there are benefits that can be provided by 3D print technology.
Via Photocentric
