Aqueous Processing Techniques for Lithium-Ion Battery Cathodes
Summary
Aqueous processing of lithium-ion battery cathodes has emerged as a sustainable alternative to traditional solvent-based manufacturing, replacing toxic N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) and fluorinated binders such as poly(vinylidene fluoride). By employing water as the dispersion medium, the technique offers reduced environmental impact, lower production cost and improved safety. Key challenges include controlling slurry pH to prevent aluminium current collector corrosion, minimising lithium leaching from moisture-sensitive active materials and ensuring cohesive film formation with suitable water-soluble binders. Advances in binder chemistry, pH-modifying additives and multilayer coating strategies have enabled high-loading electrodes with areal capacities exceeding 8 mAh cm−2, while maintaining structural integrity and cycle stability. Innovations such as the incorporation of inorganic salts to passivate particle surfaces and tailor interfacial chemistry have further improved cycling performance and mitigated degradation pathways, positioning aqueous routes for large-scale electric vehicle and grid storage applications.
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Aqueous Processing Techniques for Lithium-Ion Battery Cathodes publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in aqueous processing techniques for lithium-ion battery cathodes across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Aqueous processing: Fabrication of electrode slurries using water as the solvent instead of organic media.
Cathode binder: Water-soluble polymer that binds active material and conductive additives to the current collector.
Nickel-rich layered oxide (NMC): A class of cathode active materials with high nickel content for enhanced energy density.
Lithium leaching: Dissolution of lithium ions from active material into the aqueous slurry, leading to capacity loss.
Passivation layer: Protective surface film formed on particles or current collector to inhibit further degradation.
References
- Aqueous Manufacturing of Defect-Free Thick Multi-Layer NMC811 Electrodes. Nanomaterials (2022).
- Implementing Binder Gradients in Thick Water-Based NMC811 Cathodes via Multi-Layer Coating. Batteries (2023).
- Unlocking sustainable power: advances in aqueous processing and water-soluble binders for NMC cathodes in high-voltage Li-ion batteries. RSC Sustainability (2024).
- Enabling Aqueous Processing of Ni‐Rich Layered Oxide Cathode Materials by Addition of Lithium Sulfate. ChemSusChem (2022).
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