Mechanism of gelation in high nickel content cathode slurries for sodium-ion batteries

Sodium-ion batteries are a prospective sustainable alternative to the ubiquitous lithium-ion batteries due to the abundancy of sodium, and their cobalt free cathodes. The high nickel O3-type oxides show promising energy densities, however, a time dependency in the rheological properties of the composite electrode slurries is observed, which leads to inhomogeneous coatings being produced. A combination of electron microscopy and infra-red spectroscopy were used to monitor the O3-oxide surface changes upon exposure to air, and the effect upon the rheology and stability of the inks was investigated. Upon exposure to air, NaOH rather than Na₂CO₃ was observed on the surfaces of the powder through FTIR and EDS. The subsequent gelation of the slurry was initiated by the NaOH and dehydrofluorination with crosslinking of PVDF was observed through the reaction product, NaF. Approximately 15% of the CF bonds in PVDF undergo this dehydrofluorination to form NaF. As observed in the relaxation time of fitted rheological data, the gelation undergoes a three-stage process: a dehydrofluorination stage, creating saturated structures, a crosslinking stage, resulting in the highest rate of gelation, and a final crosslinking stage. This work shows the mechanism for instability of high nickel containing powders and electrode slurries, and presents a new time dependent oscillatory rheology test that can be used to determine the process window for these unstable slurry systems.