Spherical agglomeration for local control of electrode microstructure: Generation of structured agglomerates

In this work, the particle engineering technique Spherical Agglomeration is applied to Li-ion battery materials for the first time. This method involves the generation of structured agglomerates with great potential to act as building blocks of the electrode microstructure, providing control of electrode microstructure and homogeneity of component within the electrode. Process-property relationships are investigated by assessing the impact of varying operating parameters and material properties on agglomerate attributes. The ability to generate a variety of structured agglomerates is demonstrated for both carbon black agglomerates and co-agglomerates of active material and carbon black. These findings reveal that an optimal range of process parameters exists for obtaining spherical co−/agglomerates with good yield. Predictions of co−/agglomerate size are made using a previously published mathematical model, and good qualitative agreement between model and experiment is found, however the model consistently under-predicts co−/agglomerate size.