Abstract:

With the development of portable communication devices and electric vehicles, there is a great need for energy storage devices with lighter weight and higher energy density. In this paper, a new method by combining waster-paper-synthesized conductive paper (CP) and active material MnO₂ together is developed to obtain a new type of anode without any binder for lithium ion batteries. By this way, we can obtain low density anode with active material in CP, instead of the commonly-used heavy metal current collector. Also, binder has been abandoned, which are usually used to combine active material into anode, to further decrease weight. The multi walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) was added in serves as a component of CP and the conductive agent for active material. Compared to traditional anode coated on Cu current collector, the CP-combined anode can greatly improve the electrochemical performance of active material MnO₂. It can let more particles to fully participate in the reaction and therefore boost the specific capacity to a great extent (about 3 times higher). It delivered an initial specific capacity of 1629.9 mA h g^-1 at a current density of 100 mA g^-1 and maintained about 67% even after 100 cycles. What’s more, it shows reversible capacity of about 260 mA h g^-1 at high current density of 1000 mA h g^-1. Our original synthesis method of anode, which shows far-reaching referential value and environmental significance, can be generalized to other electrodes and other battery systems.

Key words: Light-weight electrode, Composite anode, Conductive network, Lithium battery, Environmental-friendly method