Towards sustainable rechargeable batteries via Single Point Exposure Laser Powder Bed Fusion of pure Zn lattice structures

Rechargeable Zn-based batteries are highly promising sustainable post-lithium electrochemical energy storage technologies. Pure Zn is the active material of choice, but its cyclability is impaired by a range of morphochemical issues: dendrite growth, surface passivation and hydrogen formation. In the literature, diverse surface modification and structuring approaches have been proposed to mitigate such issues. Single Point Exposure (SPE) in Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) is a so far unexplored route to anode engineering, that exhibits unique potentialities for the formation of complex electrode architectures with tuned porosity. In this work we describe the development of a flexible LPBF system, enabled by accurate calibration of the laser temporal emission profile, to deposit strut-based pure Zn lattice structures. A comprehensive set of samples was characterized in terms of their physical (apparent density, roughness and thickness) and electrochemical characteristics, disclosing the influence of process parameters on their activity and stability as battery electrodes.