Development of ionically conducting inorganic binders for solid-state batteries

Binders play a vital role by interconnecting active materials and conductive additives and facilitating the coating of electrode materials on the desired substrates, thus enabling the flexible fabrication of batteries. Further, they aid in buffering volume changes in electrode materials and enhance their cycling stability. Polyvinylidene fluoride-based binders are employed widely, despite their high cost, non-eco-friendliness, and energy inefficiency. Recently ionically conducting inorganic binders (ICIBs) were introduced to replace polyvinylidene fluoride-based binders. These ICIBs are not only ionically conducting but also water processable, chemically compatible, eco-friendly, low-cost, thermally stable (>1000C), emission-free, and, importantly, safe to use. This study focuses on the further development of these ICIBs, particularly their ionic conductivity, validating their performance in solid-state batteries, and new ICIBs will be developed.