## 1 Introduction  
For portable electronic applications, Sony introduced a high-voltage and high-energy density lithium-ion battery (LIB) that consists of amorphous carbon as anode and lithium cobalt oxide, LiCoO2, as cathode material more than 28 years ago. The public demand for high power energy storage systems is on a continuous ascending path. Nowadays, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have become an essential tool for the storage of electric energy [1; 2; 3]. In state-of-the art LIBs, the thick film electrodes consist at least of active materials, additional binder, and conductive agents, with specific requirements regarding stoichiometry, porosity, and particle size distribution. For high power and high energy applications in full electrical vehicles, numerous lithium-ion pouch cells are used with capacities of each larger than 50 Ah [4]. New electro-mobility concepts appear to be the most appropriate solution for replacing the so far dominating combustion-related mobility and meeting high environment-saving standards. It is assumed that the further development of LIB technology will finally provide an energy storage concept that will meet the requirements of the automotive industry, in terms of energy and power density [5]. To further increase the energy density on cell-level, the so-called mass loading, thus the amount of active material or specific capacity per electrode area has to be increased. This can be achieved by an increase of electrode layer thickness and a reduction of film porosity. However, these approaches are limited regarding their impact on cell performance. With increasing electrode layer thickness and/or decreasing film porosity, an increase of cell resistance and decrease of power density are observed, which is due to an increased diffusion overpotential at high C rates and to the hampered transport of electrons (e\({}^{-}\)) and lithium-ions (Li\({}^{+}\)) in the composite electrodes. Another approach to increase the energy density is to introduce high energy materials, such as nickel-rich Lithium-Nickel-Manganese-Oxide (NMC) cathodes [6] or silicon and silicon/graphite anodes [7]. The total amount of energy stored in 2D LIBs electrodes is, in general, restricted by their areal footprints due to limitations of achievable film thicknesses for conventional electrode architectures, i.e., 2 dimensional (2D) cell designs. As a result,the transport properties of the active material and within the electrode layer need to be improved. This can be realized by nano-scaling or downsizing of the active material powder. Hereby, the interface between particle and electrolyte is increased to reduce the lithium-ion diffusion pathways from active material into the liquid electrolyte and vice versa. Small particle sizes, in turn, lead to increased agglomeration during slurry preparation. Furthermore, a larger quantity of conductive additive is needed to build-up an electrical conductive network. The aggregates that consist of nanoparticles and an increased amount of inactive material (conductive additive) lead to a reduction of the packing density in the electrode, and thus to a decrease of energy density at the cellular level. Furthermore, an enlarged interface between particle and liquid electrolyte leads to an enhancement of the interface reactivity, i.e., a loss of capacity by Solid Electrolyte Interphase (SEI) formation and an enhanced charge transfer resistance will be observed. Another approach for improving battery performances is the development of three-dimensional (3D) electrode architectures in LIBs for overcoming problems during battery operation, such as power losses, high inter-electrode ohmic resistances [8; 9], and mechanical degradation. The latter one is caused by lithium intercalation or de-intercalation and related material expansion or compression [7; 10; 11]. Electrodes with 3D architecture are developed to promote high surface area, high rate capability, high cycle lifetime, and less time-and-cost consuming electrolyte filling [12; 13; 14; 15].