Ultrahigh‐Mass‐Loading Electrodes With Enhanced Homogeneity Using a High‐Concentration Slurry for Lithium‐Ion Batteries

ABSTRACT Strategies for achieving high‐energy‐density lithium‐ion batteries include using high‐capacity materials such as high‐nickel NCM, increasing the active material content in the electrode by utilizing high‐conductivity carbon nanotubes (CNT) conductive materials, and electrode thickening. However, these methods are still limited due to the limitation in the capacity of high‐nickel NCM, aggregation of CNT conductive materials, and nonuniform material distribution of thick‐film electrodes, which ultimately damage the mechanical and electrical integrity of the electrode, leading to a decrease in electrochemical performance. Here, we present an integrated binder‐CNT composite dispersion solution to realize a high‐solids‐content (> 77 wt%) slurry for high‐mass‐loading electrodes and to mitigate the migration of binder and conductive additives. Indeed, the approach reduces solvent usage by approximately 30% and ensures uniform conductive additive‐binder domain distribution during electrode manufacturing, resulting in improved coating quality and adhesive strength for high‐mass‐loading electrodes (> 12 mAh cm −2 ). In terms of various electrode properties, the presented electrode showed low resistance and excellent electrochemical properties despite the low CNT contents of 0.6 wt% compared to the pristine‐applied electrode with 0.85 wt% CNT contents. Moreover, our strategy enables faster drying, which increases the coating speed, thereby offering potential energy savings and supporting carbon neutrality in wet‐based electrode manufacturing processes.