Dry processed anodes with a fluorine-free binder for lithium-ion batteries

Dry coating technology is a promising process for a more energy-saving production of electrodes for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). While the binder polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) has been so far indispensable, this work focuses on the use of polyethylene (PE) as an alternative electrode binder for the dry production of LIB electrodes. Several PE polymers were investigated with regard to their compatibility within the solvent-free production process of graphite anodes. The properties of these dry-processed anodes, including the chemical, electrochemical and mechanical stability are characterized in half cells. Rate discharge performance and life cycle stability were characterized in single layer pouch (SLP) cells fully based on dry coated electrodes. In this work, we demonstrated that the non-fluorinated and electrochemical stable polymer PE can be applied as a fluor-free binder in dry anode production of graphite based electrodes. • Solvent free anode manufacturing via direct calendering. • PFAS free anode manufacturing using several PE binders. • Identification of critical PE material properties for solvent free manufacturing of anodes. • Comparison to solvent free manufactured PTFE anodes and wet coated CMC/SBR reference. • Full cell manufacturing in pouch size demonstrating comparable cell performance for cells using PE binder.