Conductive additives significantly influence the “volume resistivity” of a lithium-ion electrode. What does “volume resistivity” mean?
Think of electricity like water flowing through a sponge. The sponge represents the electrode. If the sponge is very porous, water flows easily. If it’s dense, water struggles to pass through.
Volume resistivity is basically a measure of how hard it is for electricity to flow through the entire “bulk” of that material (not just the surface).
A low-volume resistivity means electricity moves easily (like water through a loose sponge). A high volume resistivity means electricity has a tough time moving (like water through a dense sponge).
So a tiny amount of conductive additives can make the electrode much better at letting electricity flow through its whole structure.
A well-designed carbon additive also brings more robustness to this network over time.
It can do that by keeping a strong connection — despite microcracks, which intrinsically form — by lowering the percolation threshold and contact resistance via a tailored surface chemistry, resisting chemical degradation (optimal surface area).
For a more comprehensive discussion about carbon conductives, check out this interview with Orion experts: Q&A: Why conductive additives matter for high-performance EV batteries, featured in EV Engineering + Infrastructure.
