To: Energy Storage Materials October 13, 2022

Abstract

Developing electrochemical energy storage that enables simultaneously delivering high areal, volumetric, and gravimetric performance is a grand fundamental and technological challenge. It is straightforward but problematic to make electrodes thicker and denser for high areal and volumetric performance while sustaining a high level of gravimetric performance. The insufficient charge transports in these electrodes with high mass loading and density could severely degrade the energy storage performance. Herein, we developed an energy-efficient fast sintering method (e.g., Spark Plasma Sintering) to fabricate a structural cathode with a high electrode density (~ 2.0-2.3 g cm-3) and high active material mass loading (> 70-100 mg cm-2). The vertically aligned carbon networks and anisotropic pore channels in thick electrodes are designed and tailored for efficient charge transports throughout the whole thickness. The sintered structural electrodes are demonstrated to deliver high battery performance in gravimetric (164 mAh g-1), volumetric (246 mAh cm-3), and areal metrics (8.6 mAh cm-2), which enables improved energy and power outputs in a new battery configuration with reduced weight and cost of passive components.

Keywords: alignment, thick electrode, fast sintering, lithium-ion batteries