The sustainability of lithium‐ion battery (LIB) production can be improved by implementing aqueous processing for positive electrodes, as already practiced for negative electrodes. This approach enables the use of water as a solvent with environmentally benign polymers as a binder instead of a standard solvent/binder combination of N‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidone (NMP) and fluorinated polyvinylidene difluoride (PVdF), which have been the subject of concerns regarding their environmental and health implications. Aqueous processing is less complex to implement for olivine‐type LiFePO 4 (LFP) positive electrodes compared to layered oxide materials due to the minimal Li + leaching caused by H + exchange with water in LFP. Hence, this study evaluated LFP‐based electrodes formulated with various water‐compatible binders, including carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), Xanthan Gum (XG), and Poly 3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene:polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS), and their combinations, comparing their performance against the NMP/PVdF reference system. The impact of all binder systems was assessed with regard to physical and electrochemical electrode properties. Each binder uniquely enhanced specific electrode properties: CMC and XG improved Li + diffusion coefficient, PEDOT:PSS enhanced electronic and ionic conductivity, and SBR increased adhesion and flexibility. Notably, aqueously processed LFP electrodes exhibited lower polarization and enhanced charge transfer kinetics relative to PVdF‐containing electrodes, resulting in superior electrochemical performance.
Vankani et al. (Sun,) studied this question.