Exploration of Humic Acids as the Binder of Silicon-Based Anode for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Abstract

Humic acids (HA) are the natural macromolecules with various functional groups. In this paper, HA were explored as the water-soluble binder of silicon-based anode for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The results showed that addition of HA can restrain the fading capacity of Si-based anode compared with that with the polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and sodium carboxymethylcellulose (CMC). With the combination of HA and CMC in mass ratio of 2:1, the anode prepared with commercial Si particles displays the better buffered effectiveness. The reversible specific capacity can still be maintained as 354.4 mAh g−1 after 40 times cycle at a current density of 100 mA g−1. In addition, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was also investigated to analyze the influence of HA on electrode. HA can be the potential binder component for improving the electrochemical performance of Si-based anode.