Lightweight Polymer-Carbon Composite Current Collector for Lithium-Ion Batteries

A hermetic dense polymer-carbon composite-based current collector foil (PCCF) for lithium-ion battery applications was developed and evaluated in comparison to state-of-the-art aluminum (Al) foil collector. Water-processed LiNi<sub>0.5</sub>Mn<sub>1.5</sub>O<sub>4</s...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Marco Fritsch, Matthias Coeler, Karina Kunz, Beate Krause, Peter Marcinkowski, Petra Pötschke, Mareike Wolter, Alexander Michaelis
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-12-01
Series:Batteries
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2313-0105/6/4/60
Description
Summary:A hermetic dense polymer-carbon composite-based current collector foil (PCCF) for lithium-ion battery applications was developed and evaluated in comparison to state-of-the-art aluminum (Al) foil collector. Water-processed LiNi<sub>0.5</sub>Mn<sub>1.5</sub>O<sub>4</sub> (LMNO) cathode and Li<sub>4</sub>Ti<sub>5</sub>O<sub>12</sub> (LTO) anode coatings with the integration of a thin carbon primer at the interface to the collector were prepared. Despite the fact that the laboratory manufactured PCCF shows a much higher film thickness of 55 µm compared to Al foil of 19 µm, the electrode resistance was measured to be by a factor of 5 lower compared to the Al collector, which was attributed to the low contact resistance between PCCF, carbon primer and electrode microstructure. The PCCF-C-primer collector shows a sufficient voltage stability up to 5 V vs. Li/Li<sup>+</sup> and a negligible Li-intercalation loss into the carbon primer. Electrochemical cell tests demonstrate the applicability of the developed PCCF for LMNO and LTO electrodes, with no disadvantage compared to state-of-the-art Al collector. Due to a 50% lower material density, the lightweight and hermetic dense PCCF polymer collector offers the possibility to significantly decrease the mass loading of the collector in battery cells, which can be of special interest for bipolar battery architectures.
ISSN:2313-0105