Dry Electrode Architecture Design for Pushing Energy Density Limits at Cell Level

Pushing the energy density limits of lithium batteries requires electrode architectures that simultaneously support high areal capacity, maximize active material content, and enable stable cycling at high voltages. However, conventional slurry-based designs fail to meet these combined demands due to sub-optimal electron percolation pathways and underestimated parasitic reactions originating from the carbon additive and the binder. The lack of predictive processing-architecture frameworks further constrains rational design. Here, we design and validate a unique dry-processed electrode architecture that leverages molecular-level coupling between fibrous carbon and binder to promote efficient electronic conduction while suppressing high-voltage interfacial degradation. This architecture achieves areal loadings >5 mAh/cm2 with >99 wt% active material and supports stable operation up to 4.7 V without compromising rate capability. And the 4.55 V NMC811||graphite pouch cells retain 78% capacity after 1000 cycles at C/3-rate, with average Coulombic efficiency exceeding 99.9%. These results are achieved without material-level modifications or the use of specialized electrolyte additives, which highlights the potential of electrode engineering alone to unlock the intrinsic performance of active materials even under demanding conditions of high areal loading and maximum active material content.