Review: 3D printing techniques, materials and applications in zinc-air and zinc-ion batteries

This review provides a critical and up-to-date assessment of additive manufacturing for zinc-based energy storage, with particular focus on zinc-air and aqueous zinc-ion batteries. The review examines how the leading AM routes, namely DIW, FDM and SLS, address major limitations of conventional battery fabrication, including limited architectural control, weak high-rate performance, short cycling life and difficulties in scalable production. Printable filaments, inks and materials reported for air cathodes, zinc anodes, current collectors, separators and functional interlayers are reviewed, covering carbon frameworks, metal oxides, polymeric binders, solid electrolytes and emerging conductive additives such as MXenes and graphene derivatives. By linking printing parameters and post-processing steps to microstructure, conductivity and wetting behavior, the review clarifies how designed porosity and tortuosity improve oxygen transport in ZABs and ion/electron pathways in ZIBs. Comparative findings indicate that DIW offers the strongest electrode performance, with FeVO/rHGO cathodes reaching 344.8 mAh g⁻¹ and 7.04 mAh cm⁻², while SLS provides stable zinc-anode architectures for up to 420 h at 7.5 mA cm⁻². Overall, DIW appears most promising for high-performance electrodes, SLS for robust porous metallic structures and FDM for low-cost structural battery components.