Establishing an Analytical Toolkit for the Optimization of Li-ion Battery Electrode Manufacturing

The electrodes used in Li-ion batteries have a defining influence on their electrochemical performance and are typically manufactured by coating a metal foil substrate with a multicomponent slurry made up of active electrode particles and conductive additives suspended in a binder solution. The rheology of this slurry is critical and directly influences its stability, ease of application, and the uniformity of the resulting film/coating. These, in turn, impact key battery performance criteria, such as capacity, power and safety.

This whitepaper considers the factors affecting the properties of dispersions such as battery slurries, with a particular emphasis on rheology, but also other key complimentary techniques that support the optimization of battery slurry properties and electrode manufacture – how they work and the application and value of the data they generate.