Using conductive carbon fabric to fabricate binder-free Ni-rich cathodes for Li-ion batteries

Carbon fabric is proposed as an alternative current collector for fabricating water-processed LiNi _0.8 Co _0.1 Mn _0.1 O ₂ (NCM ₈₁₁ ) cathodes in order to prevent electrode corrosion problems from the use of conventional Al foil. The interlaced fiber bundles in carbon fabric feature plenty of voids and a large surface area to accommodate electrode materials without requiring an insulating binder. Further, the connected network structure of carbon fabric serves as a three-dimensional pathway for electron transport. However, our experiments also reveal the necessity to adopt a conductive agent, although a very high content of it reduces the uniform distribution of cathode materials. When increasing the content of conductive agent from 3% to 15%, capacity retention of the corresponding NCM ₈₁₁ cell rises from 76% to 93% after charge/discharge at 0.5 C for 300 cycles. The causes of this increase are discussed.