Biobased binders for lithium-ion batteries (BeBAT)

The currently used binder for copper foils is based on the highly resilient polymer polyvinylidene fluoride which is quite expensive, can only be dissolved in a few solvents and shows some mechanical issues in battery applications. Another issue is the widely used toxic solvent N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, which has been classified to be of very high concern by the European Chemicals Agency. Therefore producers have to comply with very strict regulatory requirements during electrode manufacturing for reasons of work safety and environmental protection.

Our project proposal aims to develop an alternative, bio-based binder for lithium-ion batteries. For this we synthesize bio-based epoxy resins that require no or a less harmful solvent to simultaneously increase the functionality, safety and environmental performance of lithium-ion batteries. The starting materials for the bio-based binder must be chosen carefully. One challenge is that raw materials must be selected and to modify that the subsequent production steps and the battery performance are not affected.