A comparative investigation of carbon black (Super-P) and vapor-grown carbon fibers (VGCFs) as conductive additives for lithium-ion battery cathodes

To investigate the synergistic effect of different types of conductive additives on the cathode performance of lithium-ion batteries, various types of cathode materials containing different ratios of vapor-grown carbon fibers (VGCFs) and carbon black (Super-P) are investigated. The pillar-like morphology of the VGCFs enabled them to efficiently connect to the active materials and hence, the highest electrical conductivity of LiCoO 2 and LiFePO 4 (both of which are composed of primary particles) was achieved with the VGCFs. On the other hand, for LiNi 0.6 Co 0.2 Mn 0.2 O 2 , composed of micro-sized secondary particles embedded with nano-sized primary particles, improved electrical conductivity was achieved with a mixture of VGCF and Super-P via synergistic action. The synergistic effect of different types of conductive additives, vapor-grown carbon fibers (VGCF) and carbon black (Super-P) on the cathode performance of lithium-ion batteries was investigated.