Effect of high adhesive polyvinyl alcohol binder on the anodes of lithium ion batteries

High molecular weight (MW) polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was synthesized by two-step polymerizations and employed as an anodic binder of lithium ion batteries (LIBs). Numerous hydroxyl groups in PVA formed strong hydrogen bonds with both active materials and the current collector. These strong hydrogen bonds led to an increase in the amount of binder covering the surface of active materials and significantly enhanced the adhesion strength of electrodes. The high MW PVA binder showed much better cyclic performance for silicon/carbon anodes than polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and polyacrylic acid (PM) binders. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.