Tailoring the Interplay between Ternary Composite Binder and Graphite Anodes toward High-Rate and Long-Life Li-Ion Batteries

Herein, a poly(vinylidene fluoride)-Polymethylmethacrylate-poly(lithium methacrylate) (PVDF-PMMA-PMALi) ternary composite binder is adopted for fabricating graphite porous electrode for the first time. The graphite anode with the optimized composite binder exhibits enhanced ionic conductivity, increased flexibility of the binder matrix and significantly improved electrochemical properties compared to that with pure PVDF binder. At a very high discharge rate of 50C, the graphite electrode with ternary binder still retains ca. 96.2% of its capacity while the electrode based on PVDF binder only delivers 16.2%. Additionally, high reversible capacity retentions are obtained to be 86.6, 50.1 and 21.9% of its reversible capacity at 0.1C at the same charge/discharge rates of 1C, 2C and 5C, respectively. These results enable us to get deep insight into the rational design of blended binder with interior synergistic effect for high-rate and long-life Li-ion battery anodes.