According to a new research published online in the journal Advanced Materials, researchers at Harvard University and the University of Illinois have found a new application of 3D printing which produces lithium-ion micro-batteries that are of the size of a grain of sand.

The researchers have stated in their research paper that the new research involves the printing of "3D interdigitated microbattery architecture" with concentrated lithium oxide-based inks.

The lithium-ion micro-batteries produced with the help of 3D printing technology are less than 100 micrograms in weight. However, they are capable of storing as much power per gram as the bigger Li-ion batteries which are used in laptops or electric vehicles. In fact, according to the researchers, these batteries can also power small robots or medical devices.

Furthermore, the micro-batteries are also expected to help advance uses of nanotechnology, which has been brooded over in the labs but continues to linger on due to the lack of a battery that is small yet powerful enough to fit into a device, such as a miniaturized medical implant.

About the lithium-ion micro-batteries, the research paper's co-author Shen Dillon - an assistant professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois - said: "The electrochemical performance is comparable to commercial batteries in terms of charge and discharge rate, cycle life and energy densities. We're just able to achieve this on a much smaller scale."