A biopolymer network for lean binder in silicon nanoparticle anodes for lithium-ion batteries

Binders play an important role in enhancing the cycling lives of Si anodes. Herein, we propose a new three-dimensional network binder constructed by weaving the dual biopolymers (i.e., κ-carrageenan gum and konjac gum) through the intermolecular interactions. Due to the synergistic effect of κ-carrageenan gum and konjac gum, the proposed binder (N-KCG-KG) demonstrates the enhanced adhesion strength and moderate mechanical properties, which is benefit for accommodating the huge volume change of Si during the repeated deep cycling. As a consequence, a positive long-term cycling performance of 500 cycles at 1 A g−1 is achieved by the Si anode using the N-KCG-KG binder (Si@N-KCG-KG). Moreover, the relatively stable cycling performance of full-cell using the Si@N-KCG-KG anode confirms that the N-KCG-KG binder can work well in the practical cell setting. © 2021