Conductive Modification of Activated Carbon Fiber Cloths via Electrophoretic Deposition for Cathode in Lithium-Ion Capacitor

Abstract

With the growing demand for high performance energy storage devices, the advanced manufacturing technology of electrodes, which is a crucial component, has become increasingly essential in academic research and industrial applications. Activated carbon fiber cloth (ACFC) is a promising candidate for lithium-ion capacitor (LIC) electrodes due to its abundant internal space and pores. However, the wider application of ACFC is restricted by its inferior conductivity. The conventional coating process is costly in terms of both materials and time and is only applicable to surface treatment with limitations in treating shaped substrate such as ACFCs. To overcome the applications obstacles of ACFC in batteries and capacitors, we propose a novel strategy for modification that utilizes electrophoretic deposition (EPD) to deposit Super P onto the surface, thus enhancing its conductivity. After being deposited for 10 min at 80 V, the modified ACFC exhibited higher conductivity. When matched with Si@C anode, the assembled LIC demonstrates excellent initial specific areal capacitance (710 mF cm⁻²) and cycling retention, with 76.92% remaining after 100 cycles at a current density of 7 mA cm⁻². When matched with Si@C anode, the assembled LIC demonstrates excellent initial specific areal capacitance (26.91 F g⁻¹) and cycling retention, with 85.21% remaining after 100 cycles at a current density of 0.2 A g⁻¹. This work showcases the potential of EPD technology in the realm of electrode preparation and offers insights for electrode manufacture in other systems.