Abstract
Lignin, a low-cost, biomass derived precursor, was selected as an alternative for carbon based free standing anodes in Li-ion batteries. Industrially scalable melt-spinning and melt-blowing synthesis methods were developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory that are compatible with industrially viable production. Engineering studies predict that LCFs can be manufactured at $3/lb using these technologies, which compares favorably to $12/lb for battery grade graphite. The physical properties of lignin carbon fibers, specifically the tunable electrochemical and thermal transport, are suitable for energy storage applications as both an active material and current collector. The elimination of inactive components in the slurry-coated electrodes was enabled by LCF processing parameters modifications to produce monolithic mats in which the fibers are electrically interconnected. These mats were several hundreds of micrometers thick, and the fibers functioned as both current collector and active material by virtue of their mixed ionic/electronic conductivities. The LCFs were coated onto copper current collectors with PVDF binder and conductive carbon additive through conventional slurry processing. Galvanostatic cycling of the LCFs against Li revealed reversible capacities greater than 300 mAh/g. The coulombic efficiencies were over 99.8%. The mats were galvanostatically cycled in half cells against Li. Specific capacities as high as 250 mAh/g were achieved – approximately 17% lower than the capacities of the same fibers in slurries. However, there were no inactive materials reducing the practical specific capacity of the entire electrode construction. Lithiation and delithiation of the LCFs proceeded with coulombic efficiencies greater than 99.9%, and the capacity retention was greater than 99% over 100 cycles at a rate of 15 mA/g. Research sponsored by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the U. S. Department of Energy.
