Electrode manufacturing
Mixing, coating, drying
Before we make the battery, we have to first make the electrode of the battery.
There are total of 6 stages of electrode manufacturing: mixing, coating, drying, calendering, slitting, and vacuum drying.
Mixing
The first stage of electrode manufacturing is mixing. This is to combine two separate raw materials together to form a slurry. A slurry requires active materials, a conductive additive, solvents, and binder. Mixing is done by a rotational tool. And there are two steps in mixing: mixing (dry) and dispersing (wet).
For mixing(dry), active material, additive (if necessary, for example, carbon black), and binder are mixed dry.
And for dispersing (wet), solvent is added, dispersed and homogenized.
Anode and cathode each have a different formula, but the process is still the same.
Coating
The second stage of electrode manufacturing is coating. The slurry that we produced will be coated with foil with an application tool (slot die). The top and bottom sides of the foil are coated sequentially and the foil can be coated either continuously or intermittently.
It is sent to the dryer continuously and after one side is finished drying, the foil-coated is sent back to the same system for another side to be coated.
Drying
The third stage of electrode manufacturing is drying. At this stage, the solvent is gone from the material due to the heat. And the solvent is recycled and recovered.
The dryer is divided into different temperature zone, and after passing through the dryer, it is cooled down to room temperature. And send back to the system for the coating of another side.
