Wolfgang Mildner: "Printed electronics is rapidly transforming energy storage and generation, enabling innovative, flexible solutions"
An overview of the current state, key applications and future prospects of printed battery technologies, including their integration with advanced sensors and sustainable materials.
The article was first published in C2 Coating & Converting 110/OPE journal.
Printed electronics has evolved in recent years from a visionary concept to a practical manufacturing approach. Providing enough energy is a core requirement of any application either through storage (such as batteries or supercaps) or energy generation (fuel cells, solar power). Printed electronics has several options at different stages of maturity.
Particularly in the field of battery technology, energy storage and energy generation, printed electronics offers innovative solutions that could revolutionise traditional production processes.
This article highlights the key areas, current technological state of the art, applications and future trends of printed electronics in battery manufacturing and applications.
Focus areas in battery manufacturing
The core idea of printed electronics is the use of printing techniques to produce electronic components on flexible substrates. In battery manufacturing, developments are mainly focused on
- Printable electrode materials: Anodes and cathodes can be applied using coating, inkjet, screen or roll-to-roll
printing. - Integrated, flexible energy storage: Production of thin and formable batteries for wearables, IoT devices and medical applications.
- Scalable manufacturing processes: Roll-to-roll technologies promise low-cost mass production.
- Sustainability of materials and processes: Low temperature processes and substrates such as paper offer alternatives and advantages to conventional concepts, particularly important for IOT or medical/wearable applications.
Current state of the art
Printed batteries are currently on the verge of industrial application. Market-ready products already exist in areas such as
- Specific material concepts such as thin-film zinc-manganese oxide batteries: Particularly used in RFID tags and smart labels. Other material combinations are being developed to optimise sustainability, energy density and storage capacity.
- Flexible lithium-ion batteries: Still limited in energy density, but with growing potential for mobile applications.
- Supercapacitors: Complementary to traditional batteries with high charge/discharge rates.
Technological success depends on the development of suitable functional materials that can be processed at low temperatures while maintaining stable electrochemical properties.
Applications of the technology
Printed battery technology is particularly attractive in the following application areas:
- Wearables and smart textiles: Integration of energy storage in clothing or accessories.
- Internet of Things (IoT): Powering sensors, actuators and communication units.
- Medical technology: Power sources for portable diagnostic or therapeutic devices.
- Packaging industry: Smart packaging with integrat displays or sensors.
Compatibility with printed sensors, antennas or displays allows the creation of fully integrated systems.
Sensors and heaters in batteries
An increasingly important application of printed electronics is the integration of sensors for battery condition monitoring. These sensors can be printed directly on or inside batteries and enable
- Real-time monitoring of temperature, voltage, current and state of charge.
- Early warning systems to detect potential faults such as overheating or deep discharge.
- Lifetime analysis through continuous recording of usage profiles.
Especially in safety-critical areas – such as medical technology or electric mobility – these sensors provide significant added value. They support predictive maintenance and increase the reliability of energy systems. Due to their flexibility and small size, printed sensors can be integrated almost invisibly and cost effectively. Battery performance is very sensitive to temperature; heaters are used to keep batteries in their most effective operating conditions.
Future development and challenges
The advancement of printed batteries depends heavily on progress in the following areas:
- Materials innovation: New conductive polymers, nanomaterials and hybrid structures.
- Energy density and lifespan: Improving electrochemical properties while maintaining flexibility.
- Standardisation and scaling: Developing consistent processes for mass production.
In the future, printed energy storage systems are expected to become mainstream, particularly through their integration with sustainable technologies such as printed solar cells or energy recycling systems.
Conclusion
Printed electronics has the potential to fundamentally transform battery manufacturing. It enables new forms and applications of energy storage and monitoring and could also support more sustainable, efficient, and adaptable production. While technological challenges remain, the direction is clear: the printed battery will be a key component of the future of flexible electronics.
Caption 1: Wolfgang Mildner is owner of the Nuremberg, Germany, based MSWTech, fellow of the OE-A and General Chair of LOPEC. (Image: MSWTech)
Caption 2: Integrated sensors for battery cells in a single printed foil. (Image: FLEXOO)