Blomquist Nicklas, Phadatare Manisha, Patil Rohan, Zhang Renyun, Leuschen Noah, Hummelgård Magnus
Department of Engineering, Mathematics and Science Education, Mid Sweden University, SE-851 70 Sundsvall, Sweden.
Nanomaterials (Basel). 2025 Jan 14;15(2):113. doi: 10.3390/nano15020113.
A recyclability perspective is essential in the sustainable development of energy storage devices, such as lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), but the development of LIBs prioritizes battery capacity and energy density over recyclability, and hence, the recycling methods are complex and the recycling rate is low compared to other technologies. To improve this situation, the underlying battery design must be changed and the material choices need to be made with a sustainable mindset. A suitable and effective approach is to utilize bio-materials, such as paper and electrode composites made from graphite and cellulose, and adopt already existing recycling methods connected to the paper industry. To address this, we have developed a concept for fabricating fully disposable and resource-efficient paper-based electrodes with a large-scale roll-to-roll coating operation in which the conductive material is a nanographite and microcrystalline cellulose mixture coated on a paper separator. The overall best result was achieved with coated roll 08 with a coat weight of 12.83(22) g/m and after calendering, the highest density of 1.117(97) g/cm, as well as the highest electrical conductivity with a resistivity of 0.1293(17) mΩ·m. We also verified the use of this concept as an anode in LIB half-cell coin cells, showing a specific capacity of 147 mAh/g, i.e., 40% of graphite's theoretical performance, and a good long-term stability of battery capacity over extended cycling. This concept highlights the potential of using paper as a separator and strengthens the outlook of a new design concept wherein paper can both act as a separator and a substrate for coating the anode material.
从可回收性的角度来看，这对锂离子电池等储能设备的可持续发展至关重要，但锂离子电池的发展将电池容量和能量密度置于可回收性之上，因此，与其他技术相比，其回收方法复杂且回收率较低。为改善这种情况，必须改变电池的基础设计，并以可持续的思维方式进行材料选择。一种合适且有效的方法是利用生物材料，如纸张以及由石墨和纤维素制成的电极复合材料，并采用与造纸工业相关的现有回收方法。为解决这一问题，我们开发了一种概念，即通过大规模卷对卷涂布操作制造完全一次性且资源高效的纸质电极，其中导电材料是涂覆在纸质隔膜上的纳米石墨和微晶纤维素混合物。涂覆辊08的涂布量为12.83(22) g/m²，压延后密度最高可达1.117(97) g/cm³，电阻率为0.1293(17) mΩ·m，实现了总体最佳结果。我们还验证了这一概念在锂离子电池半电池硬币电池中作为阳极的应用，其比容量为147 mAh/g，即石墨理论性能的40%，并且在长时间循环过程中电池容量具有良好的长期稳定性。这一概念突出了使用纸张作为隔膜的潜力，并强化了一种新设计概念的前景，即纸张既可以作为隔膜，又可以作为涂覆阳极材料的基底。
