Low-Cost Modular Battery Fabrication System Based on 3D-Printed Parts and Microcontrollers

Abstract

Integrating energy storage into clothing would enable wearable electronics of a more comfortable form factor and weight distribution compared to traditional rigid cells. Work on LTO vs LCO systems by previous groups have demonstrated the material system’s ability to be flexed or produced with scalable methods. In this work we report a low-cost automated fabrication setup to produce flexible LTO/LCO batteries on carbon fiber substrates. The modular thread-coating system reported here takes advantage of cheap Arduino microcontrollers and 3D printed structures for a highly customizable design allowing for rapid prototyping of different material systems. In this particular setup, a stepper motor pulls a fiber through a series of 3D-printed stages where the fiber substrate is subjected to slurry deposition, washing, heating or packaging to produce a functional LTO/LCO battery. The modular system serves as a useful intermediary between initial lab scale research— in which artisanal manual skills are often required from the researcher— and the industrial production process— in which automation and high throughput are paramount. The modular intermediary allows one to mimic mass production at a lab scale to identify challenges and solutions to scaling up a battery architecture for wide use.