Additive Manufacturing Polyurethane Acrylate via Stereolithography for 3D Structure Polymer Electrolyte Application

Muhammad Faishal Norjeli; Nizam Tamchek; Zurina Osman; Ikhwan Syafiq Mohd Noor; Mohd Zieauddin Kufian; Mohd Ifwat Bin Mohd Ghazali

doi:10.3390/gels8090589

Additive Manufacturing Polyurethane Acrylate via Stereolithography for 3D Structure Polymer Electrolyte Application

Gels. 2022 Sep 15;8(9):589. doi: 10.3390/gels8090589.

Authors

Muhammad Faishal Norjeli¹, Nizam Tamchek², Zurina Osman³, Ikhwan Syafiq Mohd Noor⁴, Mohd Zieauddin Kufian³, Mohd Ifwat Bin Mohd Ghazali¹

Affiliations

¹ SMART RG, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Nilai 71800, Malaysia.
² Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Malaysia.
³ Centre for Ionics Universiti Malaya, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia.
⁴ Physics Division, Centre of Foundation Studies for Agricultural Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Malaysia.

Abstract

Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D-printing technology, is currently integrated in many fields as it possesses an attractive fabrication process. In this work, we deployed the 3D-print stereolithography (SLA) method to print polyurethane acrylate (PUA)-based gel polymer electrolyte (GPE). The printed PUA GPE was then characterized through several techniques, such as Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The printed GPE exhibited high ionic conductivity of 1.24 × 10^-3 S cm^-1 at low-lithium-salt content (10 wt.%) in ambient temperature and favorable thermal stability to about 300 °C. The FTIR results show that addition of LiClO₄ to the polymer matrix caused a shift in carbonyl, ester and amide functional groups. In addition, FTIR deconvolution peaks of LiClO₄ show 10 wt.% has the highest amount of free ions, in line with the highest conductivity achieved. Finally, the PUA GPE was printed into 3D complex structure to show SLA flexibility in designing an electrolyte, which could be a potential application in advanced battery fabrication.

Keywords: 3D printing; additive manufacturing; gel polymer electrolyte; ionic conductivity; polyurethane acrylate.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia (MOHE) through the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) with reference code, FRGS/1/2020/STG05/USIM/02/1.