Dry Battery Electrode Technology: From Early Concepts to Industrial Applications

The increasing demand for clean and efficient energy storage makes theenvironmentally friendly and cost-effective production of lithium-ion batteriesa focal point in current battery research and development. Dry batteryelectrode (DBE) coatings play a crucial role in future production schemes asthis technique does not require the use of toxic solvents and energy-intensivedrying steps. This review article focuses on the most advanced DBE methodtoday, based on fibrillated polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) binder. PTFE-basedDBE coatings are suitable for both laboratory scale and mass production,which places them in a prominent position among DBE methods. The articlecovers the historical development of the process as well as current research inthe field of lithium-ion batteries (LIB) and next-generation batteries such aslithium–sulfur batteries (LSB) and solid-state batteries (SSB). Both thesuitability and existing drawbacks of PTFE-based dry coatings for these celltypes are discussed. The article also provides insights into productionresearch and describes approaches for scaling the method. Characteristicfeatures and differences of the most important methods, the DRYtraec andMaxwell-process, are outlined. Finally, existing challenges in commercializingthe technology are discussed, and an outlook on environmentally friendlyPTFE-alternative binders is given.