Applications of different nano-sized conductive materials in high energy density pouch type lithium ion batteries

• Published in: Electrochimica acta 2020-12, Vol.362, p.137166, Article 137166
• Main Authors: Tsai, Shan-Ho, Tsou, Yi-Lin, Yang, Chih-Wei, Chen, Tsan-Yao, Lee, Chi-Young
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acetylene; Carbon black; Carbon nanotubes; CNT; Electric vehicles; Electrodes; Flux density; High energy density; Ionic conductivity; Li-ion pouch cell; Lithium; Lithium-ion batteries; Metal oxides; Portable equipment; Rechargeable batteries
• ISSN: 0013-4686; 1873-3859
• DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2020.137166

Lots of lithium ion battery (LIB) products contain lithium metal oxide LiNi5Co2Mn3O2 (LNCM) as positive electrode active material. To increase the conductivity, conductive carbon-based materials including acetylene black and carbon black become necessarily consisted in electrodes. Recently, carbon nano-tube (CNT) appears as a popular choice for conductive carbon in LIB. However, a large quantity of the conductive carbon which cannot provide capacity as the active material will decrease the energy density of batteries. The ultra-high cost of CNT comparing to conventional carbon black is also a problem. In this work, we are going to introduce ‘short length’ and ‘long length’ carbon nano-tube (S-CNT and L-CNT) into electrode in order to design a reduced-amount conductive carbon electrode. The whole experiment will be done in 1 Ah commercial type pouch LIB. By decreasing conductive carbon as well as increasing the active material in positive electrode, the energy density of LNCM-based 1Ah pouch type LIBs with only 0.16% of L-CNT inside LNCM positive electrode could reach 224 Wh/kg and 549 Wh/L, in weight and volume energy density, respectively. Also, this high energy density LIB with L-CNT reveals stable cyclability may become a valuable progress in portable devices and electric vehicle (EV) applications.