Representative image of the interior of a rechargeable battery. 1) housing, 2) separator, 3 and 4) electrodes. Source: Wikipedia.com, public domain image.
In this regard, research for the development of better lithium-ion batteries has focused on the development of an architecture for the electrodes to provide both energy and power. That is why, in a study published in the journal Applied Physics Reviews, the inclusion of carbon-conductive fillers to improve battery performance is proposed as a solution to this problem.
Conductive fillers are a key component in the structure of the battery, since their design influences the transport of lithium ions, a fundamental step for the operation and performance of the battery. Therefore, several investigations have sought ways to improve their construction, from providing aligned channels to adjusting the appropriate pore size to facilitate ion transport.
In this study, the focus was on evaluating the use of carbon-based fillers to conduct electricity. In particular, three types of conductive fillers were studied: single wall carbon nanotubes, graphite nanoplate, and Super P (a type of carbon produced during oxidation of petroleum precursors) using commercial LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 as the model electrode material; and the role of these conductive fillers in electrode morphology, electrical percolation, and electrochemical properties of the electrodes was compared.
Representation of the use of carbon nanotube filler in electrodes. Image designed by 
The results showed that Super P particle filler was added to the electrode material in a point-to-point contact arrangement. While the carbon nanotube fillers were wrapped around the particles of the electrode material forming a conductive layer, forming interconnected networks between the material spaces. The graphene sheets, while also showing this wrapping arrangement around the material, were not as uniform as observed with the carbon nanotubes.
Therefore, the researchers considered various amounts of filler and found that only 0.16% by weight of the material composed of carbon nanotubes produced good electrical conductivity, which was important since larger amounts of Super P and graphite were required to achieve the same result. So the single-walled carbon nanotube electrodes showed superior performance, due to both high electrical conductivity and tight-wrap architecture.
These findings suggest that the integration of single-walled carbon nanotubes into commercial nickel and magnesium electrodes facilitates ion and charge transfer, leading to increased electrochemical utilization, especially at high discharge rates, providing new insights for future high energy/power systems.
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