A facile approach to derive binder protective film on high voltage spinel cathode materials against high temperature degradation

The electrochemical performance of spinel LiNi_0.5Mn_1.5O₄ cathode combined with different binders at elevated temperature is firstly investigated. The water soluble binder, such as sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and sodium alginate (SA), is compared with the polyvinylidene difluoride (PVdF) binder used in non-aqueous process. The aqueous process can meet the need of Li-ion battery industry due to environmental-friendly and cost effectiveness by replacing toxic organic solvent, such as N-methyl-pyrrolidone (NMP). In this study, a significantly improved high temperature cycling performance is successfully obtained as compared to the traditional PVdF binder. The aqueous binder can serve as a protective film which inhibits the serious Ni and Mn dissolution especially at elevated temperature. Our result demonstrates a facile approach to solve the problem of capacity fading for high voltage spinel cathodes.