Beyond slurry cast: Patterning of a monolithic active material sheet to form free-standing, solvent-free, and low-tortuosity battery electrodes
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Commercial lithium-ion battery electrodes today are manufactured by slurry casting active material powder onto a metal current collector foil. This manufacturing process has become embedded over recent decades but limits commercial cell performance. This paper presents patterning of a monolithic active material sheet as an alternative to slurry casting. The concept is proven experimentally by laser drilling a pyrolytic graphite sheet to increase the gravimetric active material capacity from 10 mA h g−1 to 450 mA h g−1, when used as a negative lithium-intercalation electrode. Cell-level calculations show that, without changing the chemistry, a pyrolytic graphite sheet electrode with a hexagonal array of 5 μm diameter, 20 μm pitch channels could increase the gravimetric energy density of a LGM50 cell by 22% to 322 W h kg−1. By moving beyond slurry casting, patterned monolithic electrodes could enable batteries with lower cost, reduced energy intensity, and enhanced performance.
Source: Cell Reports Physical Science
Authors: Samuel W. Hair, Samuel J. Cooper, Milo S.P. Shaffer
Institution: Imperial College London
Language: English
Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $5,460
OpenAlex ID: W4401419593