CAREER: Additive Manufacturing of Structural Battery Carbon Fiber Reinforced Composites

该教师早期职业发展计划（CAREER）资助支持用碳纤维增强复合材料制成的新型结构电池的增材制造的基础研究。通过将能量存储和承载功能集成到单个结构中，结构电池可以减小系统质量和体积。这可以提高电动运输等领域的性能和效率，电池可以增加操作范围和使用寿命。然而，结构电池的设计和制造提出了新的挑战，这些挑战超出了传统制造方法的范围。该研究计划将研究一种新的制造工艺，以增材制造多功能三维结构电池中的连续碳纤维。通过该项目开发的知识将促进下一代轻质材料的开发，开辟新的设计机会，并在分散储能方面提供更大的灵活性，以满足日益增长的汽车运输电气化需求。教育和外展目标与研究计划相结合，旨在激励更多工程专业学生攻读研究生并扩大对清洁能源制造的参与。将优先考虑来自工程领域代表性不足的群体的第一代大学生，旨在显着拓宽具有制造知识的学生的视野，从而提高研究生院的参与度，并最终培养具有全球竞争力的工程人才队伍。基于共挤出的增材制造技术为用连续碳纤维制造多功能结构电池提供了一条有前途的路线。然而，现有的制造技术主要针对机械性能进行优化。该项目将解决多功能纤维结构电池复合材料增材制造过程中纤维浸渍机制的知识缺口。将进行多尺度计算流体动力学分析，以研究纤维网络的动态毛细渗透和渗透过程中的压力和粘度的影响。碳纤维微电池将通过涂层功能化，并测试涂层对纤维润湿，机械和电化学性能的影响。将使用原位耦合机械电化学测量来测试印刷的结构电池样品。相应的机械和电化学性能和复合材料的微观结构将被测量，并与跨不同的长度尺度识别的润湿和浸渍机制，以验证多尺度计算流体动力学分析。该研究旨在建立3D打印过程、获得的微观结构和耦合的多功能性能之间的闭环基本关系。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) grant supports fundamental research on additive manufacturing of novel structural batteries made with carbon fiber reinforced composites. By integrating the functions of energy storage and load bearing into a single structure, a structural battery can reduce system mass and volume. This can boost performance and efficiency in fields like electric transportation, where the batteries can increase operation range and service life. However, the design and fabrication of structural batteries present new challenges which extend beyond the scope of conventional manufacturing approaches. This research program will investigate a novel manufacturing process to additively manufacture continuous carbon fibers built into multifunctional three-dimensional structural batteries. The knowledge developed through this project will promote the development of next-generation lightweight materials, open up new design opportunities, and provide more flexibility in decentralization of energy storage to meet the increasing demands in electrification of vehicle transportation. The education and outreach objectives, integrated with the research plan, aim to motivate more engineering students to pursue graduate study and broaden participation in clean-energy manufacturing. A priority will be placed on first-generation college students from groups underrepresented in engineering, with an aim to significantly broaden the horizons of students with manufacturing knowledge, leading to greater graduate school participation and ultimately fostering a globally competitive engineering workforce. Coextrusion-based additive manufacturing techniques provide a promising route for fabrication of multifunctional structural batteries with continuous carbon fibers. However, the existing fabrication techniques are mainly optimized for mechanical performance. This project will address the knowledge gap around the fiber impregnation mechanism during additive manufacturing of multifunctional fibrous structural battery composites. A multi-scale computational fluid dynamics analysis will be performed to study the effects of pressure and viscosity during the fiber network's dynamic capillary permeation and penetration processes. The carbon fiber micro-battery will be functionalized through coating and tested for the coating’s effects on fiber wetting, mechanical and electrochemical performance. In-situ coupled mechano-electrochemical measurements will be used to test the printed structural battery samples. The corresponding mechanical and electrochemical properties and composite microstructure will be measured and correlated with the identified wetting and impregnation mechanisms across different length scales to validate the multi-scale computational fluid dynamics analysis. The study aims to establish a closed-loop fundamental relationship between the 3D printing process, obtained microstructure, and coupled multifunctional performance.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.