Comparative Investigation of Water-Based CMC and LA133 Binders for CuO Anodes in High-Performance Lithium-Ion Batteries

Transition metal oxides are considered to be highly promising anode materials for high-energy lithium-ion batteries. While carbon matrices have demonstrated effectiveness in enhancing the electrical conductivity and accommodating the volume expansion of transition metal oxide-based anode materials in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), achieving an optimized utilization ratio remains a challenging obstacle. In this investigation, we have devised a straightforward synthesis approach to fabricate CuO nano powder integrated with carbon matrix. We found that with the use of a sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) based binder and fluoroethylene carbonate additives, this anode exhibits enhanced performance compared to acrylonitrile multi-copolymer binder (LA133) based electrodes. CuO@CMC electrodes reveal a notable capacity ~1100 mA h g^-1 at 100 mA g^-1 following 170 cycles, and exhibit prolonged cycling stability, with a capacity of 450 mA h g^-1 at current density 300 mA g^-1 over 500 cycles. Furthermore, they demonstrated outstanding rate performance and reduced charge transfer resistance. This study offers a viable approach for fabricating electrode materials for next-generation, high energy storage devices.