Addressing the Role of Electrode Microstructure in Li-Ion Battery Thermo-Electrochemical Interaction

Lithium-ion batteries are a ubiquitous part of modern technology as portability and reusability are heavily emphasized. As this is the case, it is important to further improve their electrochemical capabilities while minimizing the increase in thermal effects and maximizing safety. There are many ways to do this, but one area that has had little focus is the role of microstructure morphology on the thermo-electrochemical performance of the cell. Thus, a study was done to characterize how changes in the microstructure affect properties pertinent to the thermal and electrochemical characterization. The thermal and electrochemical effects were then characterized considering the changes in the microstructure. The research done here has developed functional relationships that can be used to determine the active area, conductivity, and tortuosity in a graphite anode and NMC cathode. Changes in the porosity volume percentage, binder morphology, and binder volume percentage can cause significant variation in these properties. As those properties change, there are possibly significant changes in the overpotential, and concentration and potential gradient that then change the temperature rise and electrochemical performance in the cell