Sakuu, a California-based additive manufacturing company, is on its way to commercial-scale production of printed batteries in major industries, including electric mobility, aerospace, electric vehicles, grid energy storage and more.

Sakuu has announced that, since December 2022, it has been successfully and consistently 3D printing fully functional high-performance batteries in custom shapes and sizes. These batteries were printed as stamped cells containing stamped openings for thermal management, in a completely dry process, at Sakuu's Silicon Valley Battery Pilot Line facility. This marks a major step toward planned commercial-scale production of next-generation batteries, including solid-state batteries, in gigafactories around the world.

 

Karl Littau, Sakuu's CTO, commented: "Our development shows that the Kavian platform can enable sustainable, commercial-scale production of a wide range of battery technologies, from lithium-ion to lithium metal and even solid-state batteries. , while traditional and advanced cell manufacturing methods continually run into core impediments that prevent large-scale production. Additionally, our printing process can enable substantial gains in energy density for a complete battery. Finally, our platform can customize the battery form factor, so the battery itself can become part of the product design through custom shapes and sizes. This is a profound moment with huge implications for advanced battery manufacturing."

 

Sakuu has invented a fully industrialized process for printing batteries using a proprietary multi-layer, multi-material approach in a parallel, dry process, rather than slow layer-over-layer printing or screen printing, inherently wet processes that require a significant amount of energy to produce. they remove unwanted solvents and are susceptible to poor print quality and unreliable output. Sakuu's invention can offer high-speed, low-cost manufacturing capability along with shape and form flexibility, while also delivering batteries in the mainstream categories that matter most to customers and consumers alike. For example, Sakuu's first printed batteries have demonstrated successful cycling performance at C/5, IC current rates, and expectations are to achieve high energy density at 800–1000 Wh/l.

 

More information at https://www.sakuu.com