(759c) Invited - Synthesis, Fabrication, and Characterization of Thick Lithium-Ion Battery Electrodes

While materials chemistry limits the maximum electrochemical energy stored in a battery cell, the design and processing of the battery electrode can have significant impact on the power and energy density at the battery cell level. Generally, thicker battery electrodes will result in higher energy density at the cell level; however, fabricating thick electrodes in some cases results in processing challenges because of mechanical limitations of the electrode structure. In addition, thick electrodes result in greater path lengths for the electrons and ions that must traverse the electrode structure curing charge and discharge and thus resistances can result that make practical rates of charge and discharge a challenge. This talk will introduce a method developed in our group to synthesize sub-micrometer lithium-ion battery particles that are fabricated into thick electrode architectures. These particles can be processed into architectures with both nanoscale and macroscale porosity that reduce the transport limitations within the cell architecture. In addition, we will describe methods to characterize these thick electrodes which provide insights into the tortuosity of the electrodes and the process-property dependence of these battery materials.