A soluble polyimide (PI) is attempted to be a binder for transition metal oxide cathode in lithium ion batteries. It is synthesized from 2,2-Bis[4-(4-aminophenoxy)phenyl]propane, 4,4'-Oxydianiline and 4,4'-Oxydiphthalic anhydride, and characterized by FT-IR and H-1 NMR techniques. To be a binder, the synthesized PI is applied to fabricate the electrodes, showing binding property and electrochemical performance as good as poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) that is conventional binder widely used in lithium ion batteries. The 2 Ah pouch full cells with PI and PVDF binders are assembled to compare their performances. As a result, the batteries with PI binder display 91.4% capacity retention after 500 cycles, which is almost the same as the cells withPVDF binder. The overcharge safetytests are carried by 2 Ah pouch full cells, indicating that PI cells can pass the test, no fire and no explosion, but the PVDF cells fail the test, catching fire. The result shows that the PI binder can enhance the safety of Li-ion batteries. This study paves a new way to improve the safety performance of lithium ion batteries. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.