Creative Electrode Design and Printing Process to Reduce Contact Resistance of 3D Printed Electrodes

3D printing has emerged as an exciting approach that has opened the possibility to craft electrodes into various unimaginable geometries using a manufacturing approach that is simple to use and provides high precision. Although the benefits are considerable, there are some key shortcomings that limit the performance of 3D printed electrodes when compared to other widely used conductive materials that are used for electrochemistry or electroanalysis. The major problem with the contract resistance of 3D printed electrode is firstly due to the printable filament, which as a carbon thermoplastic composite has considerable resistivity. This is further exacerbated by the printing process itself, where the resistivity of the printed electrode is increased. Although there is a wide investigation in printing parameters, these have yielded some enhanced and thus a radical new approach is needed to reduce contact resistance. Within this study we explored unique electrode designs and printing processes to systematically explore how contact resistance could be reduced in the printed electrodes. Making electrodes with different compositions of materials in unique design can influence contact resistance. We show that within the printing process that infill pattern and outer shells can influence the contact resistance. Our findings provide significant insight into how creative design and effective use of the printing process can vastly reduce the contact resistance. These benefits provide the performance enhancements that also leverage the unique benefits of 3D printing.