Nafion as a facile binder additive stabilizes solid electrolyte interphase on graphite anode

Graphite is dominantly used as the anode material for lithium-ion batteries. However, it still suffers from a limited cycling life and poor rate capability due to the unstable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). Herein, a simple and viable method with Nafion as an additive to the commercial carboxyl methyl cellulose-styrene butadiene rubber (CMC/SBR) binder is proposed to construct a superior interfacial film to suppress the continuous decomposition of electrolyte solvent molecules on the graphite surface. Nafion helps to break the solvation shell and form a thin and uniform solid electrolyte interphase film on the surface of the graphite anode with fast Li+ diffusion. Benefiting from the synergetic merits form the inner original SEI and the outer Nafion, the graphite anodes exhibit long cycling life with a capacity retention rate of 73.85% after 350 cycles, and a high rate capability of 333.4 mAh g? 1 at 1C and 327.6 mAh g? 1 at 6C. The facile strategy of binder additives to stabilize SEI is inspiring the design of high-performance electrodes.

Automated summary

Graphite anodes for lithium-ion batteries suffer from a limited cycling life and poor rate capability due to an unstable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). This study proposes a simple and viable method using Nafion as an additive in the binder to construct a superior interfacial film, which mitigates the continuous decomposition of the electrolyte solvent molecules on the graphite surface. The resulting graphite anodes exhibit a long cycling life with a capacity retention rate of 73.85% after 350 cycles and a high rate capability of 333.4 mAh g? 1 at 1C and 327.6 mAh g? 1 at 6C.