Scalable Aqueous Battery Electrode Processing Strategy to Improve High C-Rate Capability of Lithium-Ion Battery Electrodes

N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) is a popular solvent in the battery industry, but its environmental impact has caused a shift towards aqueous-based slurry compositions. However, its use is limited in several nations due to its hazardous effects on humans and the environment. Developing environmentally friendly aqueous processing for electrode manufacturing is crucial as a countermeasure. To implement green and sustainable production method, a water-based battery electrode processing is devised to replace NMP, the standard organic solvent. In addition, the manufacturing procedures of lithium-ion battery electrodes must be tuned for the electrodes to provide equivalent performance to those produced by conventional processing. In this study, we developed a simple aqueous battery electrode manufacturing method to form channels to reduce tortuosity and kinetic limitation of thick, high mass loading LIB battery electrodes and, more importantly, to improve rate performance at high C-rate while ensuring scalability and lowering electrode manufacturing cost