Ethylene Vinyl Acetate: An Alternative Aqueous Binder in Positive Electrode for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

Abstract

We have optmized the electrode blend composition and tape preparation for Li-S batteries. Ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), an hydro dispersible polymer was employed as a binder. This allows an aqueous preparation route for the composite cathode, promoting a more eco-friendly and economical productive process. Various conductive substrates have been compared: the EVA based blend have been deposited on aluminium, carbon paper and carbon cloth sheets. The electrode morphology of the electrode was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermal stabilitiy was tested by TGA. Electrochemical testing was performed in coin cells by using lithium metal as the counter and the reference electrodes. Among the others, the electrodes realized by using ketjen black carbon and EVA showed higher specific capacity and Coulombic efficiency, of 900 mAhg-1 after 50 cycles and 99 %, respectively. This study showed that EVA represents a promising binder for the development of high capacity Li-S batteries.