Resin 3D printing enables accessible electrochemical cell design

Abstract

With a recent surge in electrochemical technologies, the number of electrochemical cell designs for applications ranging from biosensors to high-current electrolyzers has grown massively. While electrode and electrocatalyst materials have been the traditional focus of electrochemistry research, the expanded experimental and computational study of dynamic conditions within electrochemical cells has revealed the importance of co-designing the cell’s components. Additive manufacturing via 3D printing has historically been used to prototype parts before getting them machined out of materials with more favorable properties. However, developments in printer accuracy, filament and resin robustness, and printer accessibility in recent years have broadened the scope of the potential applications of additive manufacturing. In this perspective, we provide insight into the acceleration of reactor design and implementation for electrochemistry and catalysis facilitated by advances in vat photopolymerization.