The development of high energy density and low cost Li-ion batteries is important for portable electronics and electric vehicle applications. It has been reported that electrode processing, especially for the cathode, with conventional manufacturing methods accounts for considerably high cost in Li-ion batteries [1,2]. Electrodes used in conventional lithium-ion batteries are manufactured through a slurry coating process, where a significant amount of solvent is required, and it takes at least several minutes for the solvent to evaporate. Given the high coating speeds necessary (up to 100 feet per minute) the drying zone may be several hundred feet long, which occupies a large footprint in battery manufacturing plants.

Here we propose manufacturing Li-ion battery cathodes using electron beam (EB) curing, which eliminates the using of solvents and allows the electrode to be cured at high speed. Solventless processing of powder coating and high speed curing at 500 feet per minute will also be discussed. Such a novel processing approach presents an exciting new avenue for manufacturing research of high performance, low cost Li-ion batteries.

Acknowledgements

This research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by UT Battelle, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725, was sponsored by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Vehicle Technologies Office(VTO) (Deputy Director: David Howell) Applied Battery Research subprogram (Program Manager: Peter Faguy).

References:

[1] S. Ahmed, P. Nelson, K. Gallagher and D. Dees, J. Power Sources 322 (2016) 169.

[2] D. L. Wood, J. Li and C. Daniel, J. Power Sources 275 (2015) 234.