Our group carefully examines the impact of processing conditions and formulations on the performance of electrodes.  Our goal is to understand why different mixers and combinations of conductive additives and binders are suggested for nearly every change in cathode or anode active material.  We conduct this work by measuring the physical properties of the individual constituents and try to connect those properties to the electrochemical properties of the final electrode through analyzing the dispersement of the materials, the rheological properties of the slurries, the quality of the dried laminates (lack of cracks), and the mechanical and electrical properties of the dried electrodes.  This year we discovered that the binder does not bind to the current collector without the addition of solids, the maximum solids content is related to the surface area of the solids, there appears to be a magical level of solvent for the slurries that is linearly dependent on the surface area of the carbon that leads to quality laminates, and the carbon additive plays an important physical role in the processing of the electrodes well beyond providing electronic conductivity. Simply put, there is a lot more to the binder and carbon than holding the particles together and enhancing the electronic conductivity.