Bryntesen, SN;
Tolstorebrov, I;
Svensson, AM;
Shearing, P;
Lamb, JJ;
Burheim, OS;
(2022)
Introducing lignin as a binder material for the aqueous production of NMC111 cathodes for Li-ion batteries.
Materials Advances
10.1039/d2ma00850e.
(In press).
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Abstract
By enabling water-based cathode processing, the energy-intensive N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) recovery step can be eliminated, reducing the cost and environmental impact of LIBs. Aqueous processing of high capacity Ni-containing LiNixMn1−x−yCoyO2 (NMC) cathodes is problematic due to lithium-ion(Li+) leaching, corrosion of the aluminum (Al) current collector, and the lack of aqueous soluble bio-derived binders. The present study investigates the potential of substituting and fully replacing the commonly used polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) binders with abundant, bio-derived kraft lignin. This paper gives a holistic overview of the optimal conditions when employing these binders. For the first time, we demonstrate that NMC111 cathodes of comparable specific capacities to NMP/PVDF-based ones over 100 cycles or at high C-rates (5C) can be formulated in water using lignin or CMC/lignin as binder materials. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) revealed that kraft lignin undergoes a redox reaction with the electrolyte between 2.8 and 4.5 V, which diminishes upon subsequent cycles. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) revealed that lignin is thermally stable up to 152 °C. Rheology measurements showed that replacing NMP with water allows for a solvent reduction. The cathodes fabricated using an aqueous slurry should be dried at 50 °C, as extensive surface cracks detected using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) diminish. Li+ leaching from NMC111 and NaOH species from kraft lignin caused an increase in pH during aqueous slurry fabrication. A carbon-coated Al foil (C-Al) prevented Al corrosion and increased the lignin cathode's mechanical strength revealing lignin's exceptional binding abilities to carbon. The electrolyte wettability decreased for calendered lignin-containing cathodes with low porosity and a large carbon black/lignin matrix.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Introducing lignin as a binder material for the aqueous production of NMC111 cathodes for Li-ion batteries |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1039/d2ma00850e |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1039/D2MA00850E |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Chemical Engineering |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10162503 |
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