Topology Optimization of Curved Electrodes with Suggested Simplified Corrugated Designs

The demand for space-efficient energy storage, from grid to device scale, has soared with the rapid electrification of society. To increase energy density while maintaining high rate performance, shaping electrodes has been shown to be an effective strategy. Computational optimization can suggest designs that improve energy storage performance; however, generated designs are often complex, leading to manufacturing challenges. Additionally, most optimization is typically conducted in standard rectangular domains, whereas some applications, such as in the aerospace industry or in consumer electronics, may benefit from optimized electrodes that fit in a nonstandard form factor. In this work, we use topology optimization to design capacitive full-cell electrodes in a curved domain. We propose a simplified corrugated electrode design based on the optimization results and show that the energy stored in the simplified design is only reduced by about 5–27% when compared to that in the fully optimized design, with more deviation occurring when ionic transport in the porous electrode is particularly impeded. Overall, we find that these simplified designs are promising, particularly given the more conventional manufacturing techniques required, and have a 42–369% increase in energy stored compared to monolithic electrodes.