Poly(Acrylic Acid) Binders: Re‐Engineering Poly(Acrylic Acid) Binder toward Optimized Electrochemical Performance for Silicon Lithium‐Ion Batteries: Branching Architecture Leads to Balanced Properties of Polymeric Binders (Adv. Funct. Mater. 10/2020)

In article number 1908558, Lu Zhang and co-workers develop novel poly(acrylic acid)-based binders branched via a short chain of oligoether. The incorporation of the oligoether crosslinker not only leads to the branching architecture of the poly(acrylic acid) backbone, thus improving its mechanical properties, but also promotes the conductivity of Li ions. A synergistic performance improvement is observed in both half and full silicon lithium-ion cells. Thus, well-balanced properties in polymeric binders can be achieved through the rational design of polymer structure and composition.