Evaluation of Particle Assembling State in Slurries for a Cathode of Li-ion Battery

The particle assembling state in slurries for cathode of Li-ion battery, which consists of LiCoO2 with particle size of about 10μm and acetylene black powder (AcB) with particle size of about 50 nm, was evaluated through settling test, hydrostatic pressure measurement and flow curve measurement. Several kinds of polymer were used to control the slurry properties. It is found that the slurry consisting of coarse and very fine particles behaved such as a high viscosity liquid when the coarse particles dispersed in the fine particles' gel with a proper strength. It is also shown that the acetylene black can dominate the slurry property while its mass content is quite smaller than that of LiCoO2. We can conclude that the particle assembling state of multi-component slurries such as the LiCoO2 / AcB slurry can be well evaluated by the combination of settling curve, hydrostatic pressure curve and flow curve.