Intercalation Dynamics in Lithium-Ion Batteries

A new continuum model has been proposed by Singh, Ceder, and Bazant for the ion interca-lation dynamics in a single crystal of rechargeable-battery electrode materials. It is based on the Cahn-Hilliard equation coupled to reaction rate laws as boundary conditions to handle the transfer of ions between the crystal and the electrolyte. In this thesis, I carefully derive a second set of boundary conditions—necessary to close the original PDE system—via a variational analysis of the free energy functional; I include a thermodynamically-consistent treatment of the reaction rates; I develop a semi-discrete finite volume method for numerical simulations; and I include a careful asymptotic treatment of the dynamical regimes found in different limits of the governing equations. Further, I will present several new finding