THE PRIMARY GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP DIRECT INK WRITING (DIW) INTO A SCALABLE MANUFACTURING PROCESS FOR THE FABRICATION OF 3D BATTERIES. IN PARTICULAR, WE WILL USE THE DIW PROCESS TO PRINT 3D ARCHITECTURES FOR BOTH CATHODE AND ANODE ELECTRODES. DIW IS A RAPID PROTOTYPING TOOL THAT ALLOWS US TO GENERATE AND TEST DESIGNS AND MATERIALS SYSTEMS FOR VARIOUS ELECTRODE GEOMETRIES, THUS ENABLING US TO DETERMINE THE PARAMETER SPACE FOR BATTERY MANUFACTURING. THE ADVANTAGES OF DIW EXIST IN ITS ABILITY TO ACHIEVE HIGH VOLUME AND RAPID PRODUCTION THAT REQUIRES LITTLE CAPITAL EQUIPMENT COSTS. THE PROGRAM IS COMPRISED OF A NUMBER OF INTERRELATED RESEARCH OBJECTIVES WHICH ENABLE THE 3D BATTERY TO BE FABRICATED. THESE INCLUDE THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ANODE INK, SUCH AS THAT BASED ON NB2O5, DETERMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DIW PRINTING PARAMETERS AND THE PHYSICAL, MECHANICAL AND ELECTROCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF THE PRINTED ELECTRODES, DEVELOPING IONOGEL ELECTROLYTES WHICH ARE COMPATIBLE WITH BOTH THE ANODE AND CATHODE, AND ESTABLISHING A PROTOCOL FOR USING DIW IN THE ASSEMBLY OF 3D BATTERIES. THE PRINCIPAL OUTCOMES OF THE PROGRAM ARE TO PROVIDE THE BASIC COMPONENTS OF THE 3D BATTERY, SOME OF WHICH WILL BE FABRICATED BY DIW, USE DIW IN ASSEMBLING THE 3D BATTERY ARCHITECTURE AND EVALUATE THE PERFORMANCE OF THE BATTERY. THIS WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH THREE INTERRELATED OBJECTIVES: 1) ANODE INK DEVELOPMENT, WITH NB2O5 AS THE INITIAL CANDIDATE; 2) THE USE OF DIW TO PRINT 3D ELECTRODES AND 3) ASSEMBLY OF THE ELECTRODES INTO A DESIGNED 3D BATTERY ARCHITECTURE AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ITS ELECTROCHEMICAL PROPERTIES.