Advanced Battery Technologies and the Role of 3D/4D Printing in Their Evolution

The combination of advanced battery technology and additive manufacturing has completely transformed the design, manufacture, and sustainability of energy storage systems. With a focus on the engineering potential of 3D and 4D printing to achieve high-performance and adaptive architectures, this review offers a thorough overview of recent developments in lithium-ion, sodium-ion, solid-state, lithium-sulfur, metal-air, redox flow, multivalent-ion, polymeric, microbial, and quantum batteries. Electrode geometry, porosity, and interfacial engineering may all be precisely controlled via additive manufacturing. By using stimuli-responsive smart materials that are self-healing, shape-memory, and environmentally adaptive, 4D printing increases these capacities. Phase-change materials, shape-memory alloys, and smart composites have all been explored for their potential to enhance safety, flexibility, and thermal management. Effective recycling and second-life uses of lithium-ion batteries can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 48%, mineral depletion by 76%, and fossil energy consumption by 83%, according to environmental and circular economy perspectives. However, there are still a lot of issues with 4D-printed batteries, including material availability, electrochemical stability, and large-scale manufacturing. In order to expedite the industrial development of intelligent, sustainable, and next-generation energy storage systems, this study emphasizes the significance of combining 4D printing technology with smart materials.