New, Effective, and Low-Cost Dual-Functional Binder for Porous Silicon Anodes in Lithium-Ion Batteries

In this work, a new effective and low-cost binder applied in porous silicon anode is designed through blending of low-cost poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) and poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) (EVA) latex (PAA/EVA) to avoid pulverization of electrodes and loss of electronic contact because of huge volume changes during repeated charge/discharge cycles. PAA with a large number of carboxyl groups offers strong binding strength among porous silicon particles. EVA with high elastic property enhances the ductility of the PAA/EVA binder. The high-ductility PAA/EVA binder tolerates the huge silicon volume variations and keeps the electrode integrity during the charge/discharge cycle process. EVA colloids acting as host materials for electrolytes increase the electrolyte uptake of electrodes. The porous silicon electrode with the PAA/EVA binder exhibits a reversible capacity of 2120 mA h g–1 at 500 mA g–1 after 140 cycles because of the excellent ductility and lithium-ion transport properties of the PAA/EVA binder.