The Effect of Active Material, Conductive Additives, and Binder in a Cathode Composite Electrode on Battery Performance

Yoon Lee

doi:10.3390/en12040658

Abstract

The current study investigated the effects of active material, conductive additives, and binder in a composite electrode on battery performance. In addition, the parameters related to cell performance as well as side reactions were integrated in an electrochemical model. In order to predict the cell performance, key parameters including manganese dissolution, electronic conductivity, and resistance were first measured through experiments. Experimental results determined that a higher ratio of polymer binder to conductive additives increased the interfacial resistance, and a higher ratio of conductive additives to polymer binder in the electrode resulted in an increase in dissolved transition metal ions from the LiMn2O4 composite electrode. By performing a degradation simulation with these parameters, battery capacity was predicted with various fractions of constituents in the composite electrode. The present study shows that by using this integrated prediction method, the optimal ratio of constituents for a particular cathode composite electrode can be specified that will maximize battery performance.

Highlights

Lithium intercalation cathode materials are widely used in various industries
The results clearly show that the value of electronic conductivity change in electronic conductivity during cycling, which is described in equation (28), had no had almost influence no influence voltage profile theisgiven effectivereport change in significant on on cellthe performance
Rate, reaction-rate constant, and volume fraction, as shown in Table 5, the cell performance was analyzed for different amounts of active material, conductive additives, and polymer binder in the positive composite electrode

Summary

Introduction

While lithium intercalation cathode materials provide high potential and high gravimetric energy densities, both a polymer binder and conductive additives are required in the cathode composite electrode to maintain a firm structure and to provide a continuous conduction path. Conductive additives such as carbon black are added to the composite electrode because of the low conductivity of the lithium intercalation cathode materials. To join the active material and conductive additives together without reacting with the electrodes and electrolyte, a polymer binder such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) or an ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) is needed. The conductive additives and polymer binder are both electrochemically inactive materials. If too much of the conductive additives and polymer binder are added to the electrode, they degrade the total capacity of the cell, while if too little are added, the electronic conductivity and the mechanical integrity of the electrode will be reduced

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion