Toward PFAS-free dry electrode processing: Sustainable binder strategies for high-loading electrodes in lithium batteries

초록

Eliminating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from lithium-ion battery manufacturing has become an urgent priority, driven by tightening global regulations and growing demand for environmentally responsible production. Dry electrode processing—a solvent-free alternative to slurry-based fabrication—offers a promising route to reduce energy use, eliminate hazardous solvents, and enable high-loading electrode architectures. However, despite growing academic interest and early industrial activity, the approach remains heavily reliant on polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), a PFAS-based binder known for its unique fibrillation behavior under shear. This dependency introduces escalating concerns around sustainability, regulatory compliance, and interfacial performance—especially amid accelerating efforts to phase out PFAS across industrial supply chains. Here, we frame the PFAS-free transition not simply as a binder substitution issue, but as a system-level challenge at the intersection of polymer design, manufacturing scalability, and responsible production. Although PFAS-free binder studies remain limited, the urgency of regulatory and sustainability drivers makes early insight and structured framing particularly important. We critically assess representative strategies, examining their strengths, limitations, and implications for future development. Binder alternatives are analyzed along three interconnected axes: mechanical cohesion via fibrillation, interfacial compatibility with active and conductive materials, and processability under dry mixing and calendering conditions. We further explore how these strategies align with next-generation battery technologies—such as all-solid-state batteries—and with broader industrial shifts toward decarbonized, regulation-compliant manufacturing. Building on these insights, we propose a unified framework that positions binder design as a functional lever for enabling sustainable, PFAS-free dry electrode production.

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