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The stress evolution, total charging time and capacity utilization of pulse charging (PC) method are investigated in this paper. It is found that compared to the conventional constant current (CC) charging method, the PC method can accelerate the charging process but will inevitably cause an increase in stress and a decrease in capacity. The charging speed for PC method can be estimated by the mean current. By introducing stress control, a modified PC method called the PCCC method, which starts with a PC operation followed by a CC operation, is proposed. The PCCC method not only can accelerate charging process but also can avoid the stress raising and capacity loss occurring in the PC method. Furthermore, the optimal pulsed current density and switch time in the PCCC method is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intercalation of lithium ions into the electrodes of lithium ion batteries is affected by the stress of active materials, leading to energy dissipation and stress dependent voltage hysteresis. A reaction-diffusion-stress coupling model is established to investigate the stress effects under galvanostatic and potentiostatic operations. It is found from simulations that the stress hysteresis contributes to the voltage hysteresis and leads to the energy dissipation. In addition, the stress induced voltage hysteresis is small in low rate galvanostatic operations but extraordinarily significant in high rate cases. In potentiostatic operations, the stresses and stress induced overpotentials increase to a peak value very soon after the operation commences and decays all the left time. Therefore, a combined charge-discharge operation is suggested, i.e., first the galvanostatic one and then the potentiostatic one. This combined operation can not only avoid the extreme stress during operations so as to prevent electrodes from failure but also reduce the voltage hysteresis and energy dissipation due to stress effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This article sheds light on advantages of fast charging methods with time-varying current. Analytical solutions of concentration and stress for charging processes with general time-varying currents are derived. A fast charging protocol for a multistage constant current of gradually decreasing value is first evaluated. A properly designed multistage constant-current method is able to simultaneously suppress stress overflow and accelerate charging, but stress undulation induced by sharp switching between stages is inevitable. A charging scheme with a nonlinear exponential current is then investigated. The applied current varies continuously and smoothly with time so stress undulation is avoided. Suggestions for the design of an exponential current method are proposed to achieve the best charging acceleration without sacrificing charging capacity or increasing risk of mechanical failures. A well-designed exponential-current method is superior to a multistage constant-current method in accelerating charging speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, structural configuration of layered Li-ion battery electrode plates is evaluated by analytically formulating the diffusion induced stress. Both symmetric electrode and asymmetric bilayer electrode are discussed. The thickness ratio and the modulus ratio of current collector to active plate are analytically identified to be the important influence parameters on the stress. Applying a material with smaller elastic modulus for current collector could reduce the peak stresses in both current collector and active plate. Increasing the thickness of current collector would reduce the stress in itself while promote the stress in active plate. Therefore, from mechanical viewpoint on designing an electrode, the material for current collector should be as soft and flexible as possible. And the thickness of current collector should be in an appropriate range. Basically, it should be as small as possible on the precondition that the mechanical strength is satisfied. Finally, effects of three charging conditions, i.e. uniform, galvanostatic, and potentiostatic, on the diffusion induced stress is discussed. It is found the maximum stresses for three cases are linear to the total amount of intercalated lithium ions. Based on the stresses, an optimized charging operation, i.e. first galvanostatic followed by potentiostatic, is suggested. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]