An Affordable Dual Purpose Spray Setup for Lithium-Ion Batteries Thin Film Electrode Deposition.

This work presents a versatile and cost-effective spray setup that integrates both compressed air spray and electrospray techniques, specifically designed for small-scale laboratory use. This setup provides researchers with an accessible tool to explore spray methods for growing battery electrodes. While these techniques hold significant industrial promise, affordable and simple methods for their use in research settings have been limited. To address this, the setup includes custom control software and detailed information on costs and materials, offering an easy-to-implement solution. The system was tested with three samples per technique, using identical settings, to evaluate the repeatability of each method and gain insights into the uniformity and structure of the resulting films. The structural and morphological characteristics of the samples were analyzed using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The air-spray samples showed greater consistency and repeatability, whereas the electrospray samples exhibited better deposition results in terms of material coverage and higher crystallinity films. Cracking was observed in the air-spray samples, which was related to thermal stress, and both techniques exhibited solvent evaporation issues. The issues encountered with the setup and samples are summarized, along with possible solutions and the next steps for future upgrades and research.