Future electrification and energy storage are expected to rely on all-solid-state batteries that are engineered to be lighter, greener, safer to operate and outperform what is today considered as the state-of-the-art.

Sodium polyaluminate oxide ceramics (a.k.a. Na-beta-Alumina) are envisaged as an excellent candidate material for manufacturing solid-state electrolytes; a vital component of an all-solid-state battery structure, given its high ionic conductivity and vast availability of its precursor constituents, compared to Li-based battery materials.

However, given their inherent brittle nature and high temperature processing sensitivity, their shaping via conventional approaches is considered a big challenge and thus limits their future application potential. We hereby present the fabrication of Na-beta-Alumina solid-state electrolytes, through the means of additive manufacturing (a.k.a 3D printing).

Various electrolyte structures are shaped by using material extrusion (direct ink writing) and vat photopolymerisation (digital light processing) techniques and are fully densified by both conventional and non-conventional approaches, following a powder-to-product holistic processing approach. The materials are formulated into high solids loading suspensions, with rheology suitable for each shaping process.

The resultant physical and electrochemical properties are assessed through a series of analytical and microscopic characterisation techniques.