Combining composition graded positive and negative electrodes for higher performance Li-ion batteries

Homogeneous electrode structures used in Li-ion batteries (LIB) lead to inhomogeneous active material utilization and gradients of overpotential and Li-ion concentration at the cell-scale, which are detrimental for both capacity retention at high charge-discharge rates and for battery life-time. To account for these gradients, we demonstrate that heterogenous electrode structures with engineered gradients in material distribution can improve LIB C-rate and long-term cycling performance when compared with conventional uniform electrodes in LiFePO4 || Li4Ti5O12 full-cell LIBs. An improvement in C-rate performance of > 120% and a capacity degradation rate reduced to