Traditional battery electrodes consist of composites coated onto high density, inactive metal current collectors which can limit battery energy density.  Conventional methods of increasing energy density include the use of higher capacity materials.  However, when electrodes are paired in a full battery, only a small increase in energy density is realized due to the capacity limited cathode compared to novel anode materials.  A more significant increase in energy density can be realized by reducing or eliminating the mass of the current collector. This work investigates the replacement of metal current collectors with carbon nanotube (CNT) papers using traditional composites to reduce electrode mass and increase energy density.  The results show that CNTs can replace metal current collectors on both the anode and cathode and achieve expected specific capacities.  The electrode specific capacity, including current collector mass, increased up to 28% for the cathode and 188% for the anode using CNTs.

Enhanced lithium ion battery energy density with carbon nanotube current collectors

245th National Meeting (2013)

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