Abstract:
A new process for manufacturing a cathode component from a free-standing sheet of cathode material, is described. The process comprises a first step of adjusting the particle size of the cathode active material (42) to a useful size followed by mixing with a binder and conductive additives suspended in a solvent to form a paste (44). The paste is then fed into a series of roll mills (48) to form the sheet material or the paste can first be pelletized before the rolling step (46). The cathode sheet material is dried (52) and punched (56) into cathode plates having a myriad of geometric shapes suitable for cathode preparation by compressing a current collector between two plates of the cathode material (62).