Electrophoretic deposition of LiFePO4 onto 3-D current collectors for high areal loading battery cathodes

• Published in: Materials science & engineering. B, Solid-state materials for advanced technology Solid-state materials for advanced technology, 2019-02, Vol.241, p.42-47
• Main Authors: Moyer, Kathleen, Carter, Rachel, Hanken, Trevor, Douglas, Anna, Oakes, Landon, Pint, Cary L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accumulators; Areal capacity; Carbon cloth; Cathodes; Cloth; Collectors; Cycling stability; Decay rate; Electrode materials; Electrophoretic deposition; Ethanol; Flux density; LiFePO4; Lithium; Lithium-ion batteries; Rechargeable batteries; Three-dimensional current collector; Weight reduction
• ISSN: 0921-5107; 1873-4944
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mseb.2019.02.003

[Display omitted] •Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) is shown to enable thick coatings for battery applications.•LiFePO4 cathodes, filler, and binder are simultaneously coated onto 3-D current collectors.•The use of solvents, such as ethanol, with EPD overcomes limitations of NMP processing.•High areal loadings of 20 mg/cm2 with stable capacity are demonstrated using this approach. Three-dimensional (3-D) current collectors in lithium-ion batteries with high areal loading of cathode materials enables reduced packaging weight and cost compared to planar current collector materials. Here, we demonstrate the use of electrophoretic deposition (EPD) as a route to prepare thick cathode assembles in 3-D scaffolds using LiFePO4 with areal loadings measured from 2 mg/cm2 and up to 20 mg/cm2 in conductive carbon cloth materials. Our findings demonstrate the LiFePO4 cathodes with areal capacity up to ∼2.4 mAh/cm2 and minimal decay (