Optimizing Petroleum Pitch/Polymer Composite Binders for Enhanced Lithium‐Ion Battery Performance

ABSTRACT Conventional polymer‐based binders have been extensively utilized in lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs); however, their high cost and disposal challenges have raised environmental and economic concerns in recent years. Consequently, there is increasing interest in identifying alternative binder materials that can retain or enhance battery performance. In this study, electrode slurries were fabricated using various ratios of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and petroleum pitch (SM260) to develop a composite binder. To optimize physical and electrochemical performance, LIBs incorporating the PVDF/SM260 composite binder were systematically evaluated through charge–discharge testing, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and adhesion strength measurements using a universal testing machine (UTM). The optimized LIBs demonstrated a discharge capacity of 432 mAh g −1 , an initial coulombic efficiency (ICE) of 94%, and an adhesion strength of 35.4 g f mm −1 at a slurry composition ratio of 90 wt% (active material, AM): 1 wt% (conductive material, CM): 9 wt% (binder material, BM). These findings indicate that the PVDF/SM260 composite binder offers significant potential as a viable replacement for conventional PVDF binders in LIB applications.