In the manufacturing of lithium‑ion batteries, one process step has long been underestimated: surface preparation of current collector foils prior to electrode coating. Whether the anode or cathode slurry adheres uniformly and firmly to the aluminium or copper foil directly affects internal resistance, cycle life, and cell‑to‑cell consistency. Conventional approaches rely on corona treatment or chemical priming, but corona discharge introduces microscopic damage to the foil surface and suffers from well‑documented aging effects—its surface activation decays rapidly over time.
Low‑temperature plasma offers a cleaner, more reliable alternative. With inline atmospheric‑pressure plasma processing, the foil surface can be functionalized with oxygen‑containing polar groups, raising the surface energy from roughly 30 mN/m to over 70 mN/m, while simultaneously removing trace amounts of rolling oil left over from the calendering process. The result is a 20‑30% improvement in adhesion strength between the foil and the electrode slurry—and all of this without any chemical residue risks.
This technique has already become standard in Japanese and Korean battery production lines, and leading Chinese manufacturers are now scaling it up at a rapid pace.
Among plasma cleaning equipment suppliers in Suzhou, PLAUX was one of the first teams to introduce inline plasma systems specifically for pre‑coating treatment of battery electrodes. Their approach is built on data, not hype. In real‑world tests at a major battery cell manufacturer, post‑plasma treatment using the PLAUX inline system delivered a 26% increase in peel strength and a 1.8 percentage‑point improvement in first‑pass yield (first‑cycle efficiency).
