Over the previous yr or so, CleanTechnica has revealed a number of tales about Sakuu, the progressive battery firm situated in Silicon Valley (the place else?) that’s working to deliver 3D-printed solid-state batteries to market.
Final June, Robert Bagheri, founder and CEO of Sakuu, stated in a press launch, “So far as our strong state battery improvement, we’re making ready to unveil a brand new class of fast printed batteries manufactured at scale utilizing our additive manufacturing platform. The sustainability and provide chain implications of this pioneering improvement will probably be transformational.” Primarily based on the corporate’s Kavian platform, the fast 3D-printed batteries will allow customizable, mass scale, and value efficient manufacturing of solid-state batteries whereas fixing elementary challenges confronting battery producers at this time, the corporate stated at the moment.
Sakuu Manufactures Stable-State Batteries In Customized Shapes
On February 16, Sakuu introduced it has efficiently and constantly manufactured 3D-printed absolutely useful batteries in customized sizes and shapes in a completely dry course of at its Silicon Valley battery pilot line facility since December of final yr. These batteries cells include patterned openings for thermal administration.
The corporate says in its announcement shared with CleanTechnica that this marks a primary of its type recorded manufacturing achievement and is a vital step in the direction of Sakuu’s deliberate business scale manufacturing of next-generation SwiftPrint batteries, together with solid-state batteries, from its Kavian platform in gigafactories worldwide.
Karl Littau, Chief Know-how Officer at Sakuu, tells CleanTechnica, “Our improvement reveals that the KavianTM platform can allow business scale, sustainable manufacturing of a variety of battery applied sciences from lithium ion to lithium metallic to even strong state batteries, whereas conventional strategies of superior cell manufacturing regularly run into core impediments that forestall mass scale manufacturing.
“Additional, our printing course of can permit for substantial features in vitality density for a accomplished battery. Lastly, our platform can customise the shape issue of the battery whereby the battery itself can develop into a part of product design by way of personalized sizes and shapes. It is a profound second with huge implications for superior battery manufacturing.”
Sakuu Proprietary Stable-State Battery Manufacturing unit
Sakuu prototype manufacturing line. Picture courtesy of Sakuu.
Sakuu has invented a completely industrialized course of for printing batteries utilizing a proprietary multi-material, multi-layer strategy in a parallel and dry course of as a substitute of the a lot slower layer-on-layer printing or display printing. Each of these are moist processes that require important vitality to take away undesirable solvents and are prone to poor printing high quality and unreliable manufacturing.
The Sakuu invention can ship low value, excessive pace manufacturing functionality coupled with flexibility in form and type whereas additionally delivering batteries in core classes that matter most to shoppers and prospects alike. For instance, Sakuu’s first printed batteries have demonstrated profitable biking efficiency at C/5 IC present charges and the corporate absolutely expects to attain excessive vitality densities of 800 to 1000 Wh/L.
Using proprietary lithium metallic battery chemistry, Sakuu’s printing course of begins with uncooked materials and ends with a ready-to-use patterned battery, creating a brand new paradigm in manufacturing and vitality storage. The achievement of patterned battery printing permits a simpler use of battery cell quantity with new pathways in thermal dynamic regulation.
This permits integration of fixturing, sensors, and thermal transport pathways, in addition to regulation by means of the patterned design, particularly when skinny sub-cell battery constructions are stacked with similar patterned openings for thermal administration in alignment.
“Collectively, our additive manufacturing and battery groups have completed what most thought not possible. Printing customized patterned batteries utilizing a dry course of that begins with uncooked materials and concludes with a completely useful high-performance battery is a breakthrough that has the potential to remodel how batteries of the long run are manufactured for all industries,” stated Robert Bagheri. “This milestone advances integration between our KavianTM platform and our business scale battery manufacturing plans in the direction of an vitality output aim of 200 GWh by 2030 by way of a community of worldwide associate gigafactories.”
Sakuu’s Kavian platform will probably be offered to different battery producers in addition to main automotive, e-mobility, and aerospace producers. These looking for to mass produce batteries can shorten their provide chains and acquire key cell efficiency and security attributes. Different inherent materials and vitality financial savings and sustainability advantages are realized by such most product design innovation.
As well as, Sakuu plans on licensing its personal battery chemistries, each lithium-metal and solid-state, to be produced with both conventional roll-to-roll manufacturing or in gigafactories using Kavian manufacturing strategies.
Sakuu says its pioneering manufacturing know-how has created a disruptive additive manufacturing platform for business manufacturing of batteries and different complicated energetic units. Its non-battery manufacturing platforms are able to producing medical units, IoT sensors, and different innovative electrical units and doing so in a extremely sustainable and environment friendly method, based on the corporate.
In its press launch at this time, Sakuu says its preliminary efforts will deal with vitality storage utilizing its Kavian platform to print a variety of subsequent technology batteries — from lithium metallic to all-solid-state — that may assist cut back society’s reliance on fossil fuels.
Based on 3D Printing Business, “The corporate seems to be on the observe it has deliberate out. With twice the vitality density and 30% much less weight than present Li-ion cells, the agency’s second-gen batteries have potential residential and industrial purposes inside vitality storage, micro-reactors and electronics.”
The Takeaway
There are various corporations racing to deliver solid-state batteries to market, together with QuantumScape and StoreDot. One of many principal advantages of solid-state batteries is that they considerably cut back the necessity to take away liquids from the “moist” substrates utilized in typical lithium-ion batteries — a course of that takes a considerable period of time to finish and consumes massive portions of vitality to perform. Eliminating the moist slurry at the moment used within the “jelly roll” batteries of at this time will significantly pace up manufacturing occasions and decrease battery unit prices.
There isn’t any assure that Sakuu will win the solid-state battery sweepstakes, nevertheless it definitely has lofty ambitions. 200 GWh a yr of batteries is sufficient to energy tens of millions of battery-electric vehicles and vehicles. CATL, the world’s largest battery producer at this time produced 97 GWh in 2021, virtually a 3rd of the worldwide complete of 297 GWh. Even Sakuu’s extra modest aim of 60 GWh by 2028 is kind of formidable.
It now has precise early manufacturing battery cells within the palms of potential prospects within the automotive sector and different industries. We all know our readers need to see technical information about how the Sakuu batteries carry out, and now we have reached out to Sakuu to see if they’re keen to share that info with us. It is a very aggressive trade that jealously guards its proprietary info. If we get any additional info from the corporate, we’ll share it with our readers.
