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Interweaving 3D Network Binder for High‐Areal‐Capacity Si Anode through Combined Hard and Soft Polymers
Author(s) -
Liu Tiefeng,
Chu Qiaoling,
Yan Cheng,
Zhang Shanqing,
Lin Zhan,
Lu Jun
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
advanced energy materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.08
H-Index - 220
eISSN - 1614-6840
pISSN - 1614-6832
DOI - 10.1002/aenm.201802645
Subject(s) - materials science , anode , polyurethane , polymer , furfuryl alcohol , composite material , styrene , electrode , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , copolymer , chemistry , engineering , catalysis
Si anodes suffer an inherent volume expansion problem. The consensus is that hydrogen bonds in these anodes are preferentially constructed between the binder and Si powder for enhanced adhesion and thus can improve cycling performance. There has been little research done in the field of understanding the contribution of the binder's mechanical properties to performance. Herein, a simple but effective strategy is proposed, combining hard/soft polymer systems, to exploit a robust binder with a 3D interpenetrating binding network (3D‐IBN) via an in situ polymerization. The 3D‐IBN structure is constructed by interweaving a hard poly(furfuryl alcohol) as the skeleton with a soft polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as the filler, buffering the dramatic volume change of the Si anode. The resulting Si anode delivers an areal capacity of >10 mAh cm −2 and enables an energy density of >300 Wh kg −1 in a full lithium‐ion battery (LIB) cell. The component of the interweaving binder can be switched to other polymers, such as replacing PVA by thermoplastic polyurethane and styrene butadiene styrene. Such a strategy is also effective for other high‐capacity electroactive materials, e.g., Fe 2 O 3 and Sn. This finding offers an alternative approach in designing high‐areal‐capacity electrodes through combined hard and soft polymer binders for high‐energy‐density LIBs.