Japanese scientists have developed a new type of adhesive, which can greatly improve the performance and life of lithium-ion batteries.

A Japanese research team has published another particularly promising result: scientists have made exciting progress in the performance of lithium batteries by replacing traditional materials with experimental materials.

It is reported that the team's new design has been shown to be more effective in maintaining battery life and providing longer-term power for electric cars and smartphones without premature degradation.

As we all know, the performance of smartphone batteries will gradually decline over time. One of the key reasons is the degradation of the widely used graphite anode (that is, the negative electrode of the battery). In order to prevent fission when using graphite, it is necessary to add an adhesive to the graphite. Nowadays, the most widely used adhesive is polyvinylidene fluoride ((PVDF),), but it has some disadvantages, which is far from the ideal material.

This time, Japanese scientists have developed a new adhesive made from diimino-naphthoquinone-p-phenylene (BP) copolymer, and observed some substantial performance improvements in the course of the experiment, mainly the ability to maintain capacity in multiple charging cycles.

Specifically, first of all, compared with PVDF adhesive, BP adhesive can provide better adhesion and mechanical stability for negative electrode. Secondly, the BP copolymer is more conductive than PVD, and can produce a thinner and lower resistance conductive solid electrolyte interface. Third, BP copolymers are not easy to react with electrolytes, which greatly avoids degradation.

"the semi-battery using PVDF as the adhesive is only 65% of its original capacity after about 500 charge-discharge cycles, while the semi-battery using BP copolymer as the adhesive still has 95% capacity after 1700 charge-discharge cycles," said Noriyoshi Matsumi, lead author of the study and a professor at the University of Science and Technology at Northland University of Science and Technology (JAIST).

From the experimental process, the microscopic image of BP adhesive shows that only small cracks appear after 1700 cycles, while the image of PVDF adhesive shows that large cracks appear after only 500 cycles.

The researchers also say more work needs to be done before the new adhesive can officially enter electronic devices, but the team expects it to one day be used in a variety of applications, including longer-lived smartphones, electric cars and artificial organs.

In any case, the experimental and theoretical results of this study will provide a new way to design durable lithium-ion batteries, resulting in far-reaching environmental and economic effects.

As Professor Matsumi said: "the invention of durable batteries will help develop products that are more reliable and can be used for a long time, thus encouraging consumers to buy expensive battery products, such as electric cars that can be used for a long time."