Xerox PARC Materials Scientists Print Two Thirds of a Battery in 1 Go

Printing batteries is the future of sustainable energy , according to engineers at PARC , the renowned California-based research and development company owned by Xerox .

They recently debuted a cost-saving manufacturing process that could someday squeeze out all the parts of a battery at once-like striped toothpaste from the tube .
debuted: debutの過去形、または過去分詞。(若い女性が)初めて(正式に)社交界に出ること、 初舞台、 デビュー、 初登場、 (社会生活の)第一歩
squeeze out: 締め出し合併、〈ものを〉搾り出す、押し出す、押し出す
striped: しまのある

Today building a battery requires multiple steps .

First , two separate machines fabricate electrodes by spreading pastelike layers of energy-storing materials on sheets of metal .

After those sheets are dried and compressed , they are cut to size and sandwiched around a plastic separator to prevent electrical shortages .

Last , the battery is packaged in a nonconductive material and filled with a liquid electrolyte that can carry charge between the electrodes .
nonconductive: 熱、電気または音を実行することができない
electrodes: electrodeの複数形。電極(棒)

The new battery-printing method simplifies that process .

In April at a Materials Research Society meeting in San Francisco , PARC's Corie Cobb presented nozzles and materials that would enable manufacturers to print two thirds of a battery in one go .

The two-headed printing nozzle can simultaneously extrude a lithium-ion cathode and a polymer separator .
cathode: カソード、(電解槽・電子管の)陰極、(蓄電池などの)陽極

For now , until Cobb figures out a combination of materials that will not commingle during printing , a technician must add a graphite anode manually .
commingle: (…を)混合する

But when all three components can be printed at once , Cobb and her colleagues estimate the triple-stripe process could reduce manufacturing costs by 15 percent .

Still , battery makers have already shown interest in the double-stripe version .

The prototype batteries perform as well as batteries made with the conventional process and the same materials .

Less expensive batteries are key to making more affordable electric vehicles and enabling electric utilities to purchase and store additional grid-stabilizing energy from variable wind and solar sources .

In the long run , batteries could also be printed into custom shapes for new types of gadgets-instead of the rectangles and circles designers must work around today .
rectangle: 長方形、矩形(くけい)