System and method for forming activated carbon aerogels and performing 3D printing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10767062-B2
Application number	US-201715613630-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 5, 2017
Priority date	Jun 5, 2017
Publication date	Sep 8, 2020
Grant date	Sep 8, 2020

Abstract

Making a carbon aerogel involves 3-D printing an ink to make a printed part, removing the solvent from the printed part, and carbonizing the printed part (with the solvent removed) to make the aerogel. The ink is based on a solution of a resorcinol-formaldehyde resin (RF resin), water, and an organic thickener. Advantageously, the RF resin contains an acid catalyst, which tends to produce carbon aerogels with higher surface areas upon activation than those produced from methods involving an ink composition containing a base catalyzed resin.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A 3-D printing ink, comprising:
water;
an organic thickener selected from the group consisting of water soluble cellulose derivatives, polyoxyalkylene compounds, polyvinyl alcohol, and mixtures thereof;
a resin that comprises resorcinol and formaldehyde;
an acid catalyst that catalyzes a reaction between the resorcinol and formaldehyde; and
a thixotropic additive;
wherein the 3-D printing ink does not contain graphene oxide; and
wherein the 3-D printing ink is a viscous thixotropic ink that is operable to gel after printing to form a printed part.

2. The 3-D printing ink of claim 1 , wherein the thixotropic additive comprises fumed silica.

3. The 3-D printing ink of claim 1 , wherein the organic thickener comprises hydroxypropylmethylcellulose.

4. The 3-D printing ink of claim 1 , wherein the organic thickener comprises a polyoxyalkylene compound.

5. The 3-D printing ink of claim 1 , comprising 10% to 60% by weight of the resin.

Assignees

• L Livermore Nat Security Llc

Inventors

• Chandrasekaran Swetha
• Baumann Theodore F
• Worsley Marcus A

Classifications

• B33Y70/00 Primary

  Materials specially adapted for additive manufacturing · CPC title

• B33Y70/10

  Composites of different types of material, e.g. mixtures of ceramics and polymers or mixtures of metals and biomaterials · CPC title

• Y02E60/13

  Energy storage using capacitors · CPC title

• H01G11/52

  Separators · CPC title

• H01G11/32

  Carbon-based · CPC title