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In 2021, the new energy market rapidly erupted, with the penetration rate of electrification exceeding 10%, and the demand for lithium-ion batteries in the market rapidly increased. The huge downstream demand has prompted various enterprises to expand production. According to incomplete statistics from Gaogong Lithium Battery, in the first three quarters of 2021, the total planned new production capacity of domestic lithium-ion batteries has exceeded 1TWh.

Lithium batteries are widely used in today's electric vehicles, motorcycles, and many other transportation vehicles. As a booming application, the manufacturing of electrodes is also indispensable. The electrode is usually coated with a slurry coating on a metal foil made of copper. However, drying the slurry on metal foil is not simple, but rather a complex interaction between drying temperature, energy input, and time, in order to achieve as little residual moisture as possible and greater adhesion.

The battery industry generally believes that 70% of battery quality is determined by the quality of the electrode. The quality of the electrode not only affects the assembly process in the battery, but also has a critical impact on the electrochemical performance and safety performance of the battery in the later stages.

How to improve the delivery capacity and quality of lithium battery electrodes has become a constantly sought after topic for relevant enterprises. However, throughout the current market, hot air drying is commonly used for drying polar plates, and heating from the surface to the inside makes polar plates prone to cracking, adhesive is prone to floating, and the speed is average. This greatly hinders the further release of the electrode capacity of lithium-ion batteries.

Infrared technology for pole drying

Compared to traditional hot air drying methods, infrared, as an electromagnetic wave, has extremely strong penetration and does not require a medium. It can quickly and evenly dry the electrode pieces, ensuring quality while achieving rapid delivery and improving efficiency by 35% -40%.

Advantages of infrared drying technology

Delayable film-forming time: Shorten the action time of capillary effect, allowing the slurry to be heated both internally and externally, slowing down the temperature gradient in the depth direction, delaying the surface film-forming time, and fully alleviating the floating of the adhesive;

Can effectively increase porosity: weaken the strength of capillary effect, infrared penetration can effectively avoid overheating in the dried area, prevent further reduction of porosity in the dry area, weaken capillary effect, and alleviate the floating of adhesive;

Low temperature gradient effectively reduces internal stress: reduces the risk of electrode cracking.

By using an infrared radiator for heating, the production line speed can be increased to 90 meters per minute, which is 80% faster than the previous production speed.

In addition, drying the electrode slurry with an infrared radiator can achieve better cross-linking and less residual moisture, thereby improving the conductivity and durability of the electrode. The subsequent electrode baking and rolling processes can also benefit from carbon infrared (CIR) radiators eliminating creases and foil deformation. These higher quality electrodes mean longer battery life.

Infrared heaters are applied in various green energy fields, such as wind power generation, carbon fiber winding of hydrogen storage bottles, lightweight composite material molding, film coating and drying, and so on. Sensitive response, energy-saving and efficient, precise and controllable, both customized special heaters and modular heaters can improve product yield and save costs for customers.