Inkjet printing (IJP) is a prospective additive manufacturing technology that enables the rapid and precise deposition of thin films or patterns. It offers numerous advantages over other thin-film manufacturing processes, including cost-effectiveness, ease of use, reduced waste material, and scalability. The key advantage of this technique is the ability of the fabrication of complex patterns with very high precision. The IJP gives the possibility of building three-dimensional (3D) structures on the microscale, which is beneficial for modern Li-Ion batteries (LIBs) and All-Solid-State Li-Ion Batteries (ASSLIBs). In contrast to typical laminated composite electrodes manufactured by tape casting and calendaring, 3D electrode design allows the electrolyte to penetrate through the electrode volume, increasing the surface-to-volume ratio and reducing ion diffusion paths. Thus, 3D electrodes/electrolyte structures are one of the most promising strategies for producing next-generation lithium-ion batteries with enhanced electrochemical performance. Although in the literature review, the IJP is frequently reported as a future perspective for the fabrication of 3D electrodes/electrolytes structures for LIBs, only a few works focus on this subject. In this review, we summarize the previous studies devoted to the topic and discuss different bottlenecks and challenges limiting further development.

In this work, dense, porous, and, for the first time, functionally-graded bi-layer scaffolds with a cylindrical geometry were produced from a commercially available hydroxyapatite powder using the robocasting technique. The bi-layer scaffolds were made of a dense core part attached to a surrounding porous part. Subsequently, these bi-layer robocast scaffolds were joined with an outer shell of an antibacterial porous polymer layer fabricated by solvent casting/salt leaching techniques, leading to hybrid ceramic-polymer scaffolds. The antibacterial functionality was achieved through the addition of silver ions to the polymer layer. All the robocast samples, including the bi-layer ones, were first characterized through scanning electron microscopy observations, mechanical characterization in compression and preliminary bioactivity tests. Then, the hybrid bi-layer ceramic-polymer scaffolds were characterized through antimicrobial tests. After sintering at 1300 °C for 3 h, the compressive strengths of the structures were found to be equal to 29 ± 4 MPa for dense samples and 7 ± 4 MPa for lattice structures with a porosity of 34.1%. Bioactivity tests performed at 37 °C for 4 weeks showed that the precipitated layer on the robocast samples contained octacalcium phosphate. Finally, it was evidenced that the hybrid structure was effective in releasing antibacterial Ag⁺ ions to the surrounding medium showing its potential efficiency in limiting Staphylococcus aureus proliferation during surgery.

Aggregation kinetics and gel formation in aqueous suspensions that undergo heteroaggregation are studied by means of Brownian dynamics simulations. The simulated system, described in a previous paper [M. A. Piechowiak, A. Videcoq, F. Rossignol, C. Pagnoux, C. Carrion, M. Cerbelaud, R. Ferrando, Langmuir, 2010, 26(15), 12540–12547.], is constituted of two kinds of synthesized, almost equally sized colloids: silica particles that are negatively charged and alumina-coated silica particles that are positively charged. The interactions between colloids are modeled by the DLVO potential. Several compositions are analyzed, from silica-rich to alumina-rich cases. The particle volume fraction ϕ is varied in the range 6–12%. The study of the aggregation kinetics allows us to clarify the effect of those variations on the clustering process. Gelation is analyzed by detection of spanning clusters in each x-, y-, z-direction of the cubic simulation box. Percolating networks start to be observed from ϕ = 7%, a low value of the volume fraction close to the solid volume fraction experimentally measured in sediments of those suspensions.