August 2025

Journal

Long Carbon Fibers Boost Performance of Dry Processed Li-ion Battery Electrodes

By:
Choi, Junbin ; Polyzos, Georgios ; Humphrey, Holly E; Toomey, Michael D; Kanbargi, Nihal S; Naskar, Amit K; Belharouak, Ilias ; Sharma, Jaswinder K
Journal Name:
Journal of Power Sources
Page Number:
236603
Volume:
640
Publication Date:
August 5, 2025
View DOI Listing:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2025.236603

Abstract

Dry processing (DP) is an advanced manufacturing technique for lithium-ion battery (LIB) electrodes. Unlike conventional wet-process-based manufacturing that involves dissolving polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) binder in n-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) solvent for slurry-casting, DP involves fibrillation of polymer binders. This method offers environmental and cost benefits by eliminating the need for expensive and environmentally hazardous organic solvents. However, DP-produced electrode films often lack mechanical stability due to the absence of a current collector substrate during electrode material layer fabrication. This reduced mechanical instability results in difficulty during fabricating of thin electrodes (≈5 mAh/cm2). To address this issue, long (>8 mm) carbon fiber (CF) has been incorporated to reinforce the mechanical strength of the electrode films. The study demonstrates that the inclusion of long carbon fiber boosts the mechanical, electrical, thermal, and electrochemical performance of DP electrodes.