Lithium-Ion Capacitor Electrode Slurry Without Pre-Lithiation

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

The high manufacturing cost of lithium-ion capacitors is attributed to the requirement of expensive equipment and organic solvents in the pre-lithiation process, which increases production costs.

Innovation Solution

A manufacturing method using water as a solvent to mix lithium-rich materials with activated carbon and conductive additives to form electrode sheets, eliminating the need for pre-lithiation and reducing the reliance on organic solvents.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If pre-lithiation process using metallic lithium is used, then lithium-ion capacitor can be fabricated with traditional general battery negative electrode, but manufacturing cost increases due to expensive equipment and organic solvents

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvelithium-ion capacitor fabricationVSAvoidmanufacturing cost
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The invention extracts and removes the pre-lithiation process from the manufacturing workflow. By eliminating the metallic lithium pre-lithiation step and the associated expensive equipment and organic solvents, the method directly uses traditional general battery negative electrodes without modification, thereby reducing manufacturing cost while maintaining capacitor fabrication capability

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The invention replaces expensive metallic lithium and organic solvents with water as the solvent medium. Water is a cheap, readily available substance that eliminates the need for expensive equipment and controlled environments, significantly reducing manufacturing costs while achieving the same functional result

Inventive Principle:
Principle #27Cheap short-living objects (Disposable)

2Ease of manufacture

If pre-lithiation process is used, then negative electrode sheet can be processed, but production environment requirements increase and material costs increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvenegative electrode processingVSAvoidproduction environment requirements
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The invention extracts the pre-lithiation processing step from the negative electrode manufacturing workflow. By removing this step, the method allows direct use of traditional general battery negative electrodes, eliminating the need for expensive equipment and strictly controlled production environments while maintaining processing capability

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The invention changes the solvent parameter from organic solvents to water. This parameter change fundamentally alters the production environment requirements, allowing processing under normal conditions without expensive equipment or strict environmental controls, while still achieving effective negative electrode processing

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

This method reduces production costs by integrating with existing lithium battery technology without new equipment, while maintaining high capacitance and energy density with minimal energy loss over multiple cycles.

Implementation Method 1

mixing a lithium-rich material, activated carbon, a conductive additive and a aqueous adhesive to form a slurry by using water as a solvent

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectSolvation: Solvation

Data Source

PatentUS12597568B2Manufacturing method of lithium-ion capacitor
Publication Date: 2026.04.07 CPC CORPORATION

AI summary

Disclosed is a manufacturing method of a lithium-ion capacitor, comprising a positive electrode production step of mixing a lithium-rich material, activated carbon, a conductive additive and a aqueous adhesive to form a slurry by using water as a solvent, and then applying the slurry to a carbon-coated aluminum foil to form a positive electrode sheet; a negative electrode production step of mixing a negative electrode material, a conductive additive and a aqueous adhesive to form a slurry by using water as a solvent, and then applying the slurry to a copper foil to form a negative electrode sheet; and an assemble step of assembling the positive electrode sheet, the negative electrode sheet, an electrolyte and a separator into a capacitor without pre-lithiation.