Recent technology development in solvent-free electrode fabrication for lithium-ion batteries

Highlights

• Energy saved with low manufacturing cost using SF procedure.

• Specific energy significantly increased with SF thick electrode.

• 6 different SF procedures comprehensively reviewed.

• Dry powder deposition and PTFE fibrillation promising for upscaling.

• Challenges and perspectives of SF procedure pinpointed.

Abstract

Electrodes for commercial lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) are typically manufactured with slurry-casting (SC) procedure. The high cost and limited energy density caused by SC procedure impede new emerging application. Developing new procedures to increase the performance including improved energy density and reduced cost is highly desired. One of the most promising technological paths to achieve this goal is solvent-free (SF) procedure for electrode fabrication, where no solvent is involved, thus avoiding drawbacks of SC procedure. SF procedure for electrode fabrication has attracted tremendous attention both for academia and industry. In this review, we compared the SF with SC procedure for electrode fabrication. Six typical SF procedures were presented in detail according to their dry coating (deposition) process. A detailed discussion on the advantages of SF process was followed from the point of cost saving, environmental benefits, and improved quality of electrodes. Challenges of SF procedure for practical upscaling of electrodes manufacturing were also emphasized, and the perspectives were pinpointed for practical application of SF procedure for manufacturing LiBs. This work could shed light on the technology development of SF procedure for electrode fabrication and promote its application in LiBs industries.