Fabrication and assembly of electrodes are of great importance for the manufacturing of batteries, which are the bridge to transfer electrode materials to devices. Here, we demonstrate a 3D-printing technology for the construction of functional electrodes (including anode and cathode) for zinc-air batteries. The printed anode consists of many zinc micro-spheres that allows the high utilization of the zinc. The printed self-standing air cathode features hierarchical porous structure with high surface area, which endows the electrode with high electrocatalytic activity and fast diffusion channel for the reaction. Benefiting from these advantages, the as-assembled zinc-air batteries achieve a high discharge capacity of 670 mA h g⁻¹ at the current density of 5 mA cm⁻², and long-term cycle stability at least 350 cycles, which are superior to those of conventional batteries. The reasons behind these properties and their respective characteristics are well explored and clarified. This work successfully validates the feasibility of printing battery electrodes, which might revolutionize battery manufacturing.

电极的制造和组装对于电池的制造非常重要，电池是将电极材料转移到设备的桥梁。在这里，我们演示了一种3D打印技术，该技术可用于构造锌空气电池的功能电极（包括阳极和阴极）。印刷阳极由许多锌微球组成，可以高度利用锌。印制的自立式空气阴极具有高表面积的分级多孔结构，赋予电极高电催化活性和快速的反应扩散通道。受益于这些优势，组装后的锌空气电池在5 mA cm ^-2的电流密度下可实现670 mA h g ^-1的高放电容量，长期循环稳定性至少350次循环，优于传统电池。这些特性及其各自特性背后的原因已得到很好的探讨和阐明。这项工作成功地验证了印刷电池电极的可行性，这可能会彻底改变电池制造。