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Due to the complex mesostructure and components of composite active layers in lithium-ion battery (LIB) electrodes, coupled with the concentration-dependent material properties and eigenstrains, efficiently estimating the effective modulus of the active layers remains a great challenge. In this work, the classic Mori–Tanaka method is found to be unable to estimate the modulus of the active layer. By realizing the importance of the mesostructure feature, a rod-rod model is proposed. The resulting modulus is expressed analytically. It is shown that the rod-rod model can accurately estimate the modulus evolution of the active layer if the material properties of the components and the evolution of volume fractions are known in advance. Moreover, a simplified rod-rod model is also developed to reduce the complexity of the proposed method. By knowing the volume fractions at two arbitrary states of charge and subsequently determining two constants, the simplified model can estimate the modulus efficiently. Considering both its accuracy and its simplicity, the simplified rod-rod model is the most suitable for the estimation. Thus, the methods developed in this work provide a new perspective for analyzing the material properties of composite active layers in LIB electrodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article demonstrates the design of charging strategies for lithium ion batteries with considering the balance between diffusion induced stress and total charge time for two- and three-stage charge methods. For the two-stage galvanostatic-potentiostatic charge method the low mechanical stress can be achieved without increasing total charge time by switching the galvanostatic to the potentiostatic at the time moment when the lithium concentration at the surface of particles reaches the limit c ¯ surf = 0 . A three-stage method, which consists of an initial galvanostatic stage of high current, a galvanostatic stage of low current and a potentiostatic ending stage, is suggested. Employing the initial galvanostatic stage of high current is helpful not only in accelerating the charge process, but also in controlling the mechanical stress once the electrical current and time duration of the initial galvanostatic stage are properly designed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The state of charge (SOC) or the depth of discharge (DOD) to and the time to delamination onset and the critical size for delamination, which are potentially important in lithium ion battery design for preventing the patterned thin film electrodes from delamination, are investigated. A theoretical approach based on the cohesive model is proposed to formulate the time to and the SOC (or DOD) to delamination onset, as well as the critical size for patterned disk-like electrodes. It is found that for negative electrode the delamination initiation is dominated by mode-II during cell charging and by mode-I during cell discharging. For positive electrode both delamination modes are theoretically possible during cell charging. When the electrochemical load factor i ¯ is very high, the mode-I delamination is possible and an optimal size of electrodes exists for a given maximum i ¯ . The SOC to mode-II delamination onset decreases significantly with increasing dimensionless radius, being independent of i ¯ . When the mode-II is the dominated mode the critical size for delamination exists, and a formula for the critical size for delamination has been deduced, which is proportional to interface ductility and inversely proportional to maximum volumetric strain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A semi-analytical method based on the cohesive model has been developed to investigate the progressive growth of interface delamination in an axisymmetric thin film electrode driven by diffusion-induced stresses under the assumption that the electrode remains elastic during the Li-ion diffusion process. The evolutions of the cohesive zone and debonding zone with respect to charging time have been predicted. The cohesive zone propagates in an accelerating manner and the debonding zone advances in a slowing down manner. The key parameters that control the interfacial stresses and delamination have been identified from the obtained governing equations. And according to the discussions on the key parameters, design insights into the geometry, charging velocity and material properties of the electrode have been provided. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• A general computational approach is introduced to evaluate the equivalent stiffness of various FLIBs. • The equivalent stiffness indicators, including tensile/compressive, bending, and torsion stiffnesses, are introduced by battery repeated unit cells with periodic boundary conditions. • The homogenized ABD stiffness matrix is obtained to evaluate the flexibility in different directions and deformation modes. • The connecting part is optimized, further enhancing the battery's deformability. Flexible batteries have recently developed significant advancements in structural design, diverging substantially from traditional battery architectures. However, conventional mechanical testing methods and metrics, tailored for standard battery structures, prove inadequate when evaluating the flexibility of these innovative designs. How to assess the mechanical performance of diverse structural configurations of flexible batteries poses a considerable challenge. In this study, a general computational approach is proposed to evaluate the equivalent stiffness of flexible lithium ion batteries (FLIBs) by analyzing the force–deformation response of a repeated unit cell (RUC), thereby enabling a comprehensive comparison of different FLIB designs. Moreover, to further enhance their deformability, the interconnected supple components of FLIBs have been optimized. This research lays a critical foundation for comparing the mechanical performance and optimizing the design of flexible batteries in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural batteries are considered one of the promising strategies for improving the endurance of electric vehicles. However, the trade-off between load-bearing capability and electrochemical performance remains a significant challenge. This paper proposes an efficient 3D printing-assisted fabrication strategy for high-performance structural batteries with customizable geometric configurations. The composite structural battery sample shows a bending modulus of 24.5 GPa, which could withstand maximum tensile stress and three-point bending stress of 155 MPa (specific tensile strength of 88340 N m kg−1) and 123 MPa (specific bending strength of 61553 N m kg−1). Meanwhile, it can achieve a high energy density of 120 Wh kg−1 and 210 Wh L−1 (3.5 mA cm−2) and superior capacity retention of up to 92 % after 500 cycles (10.5 mA cm−2). More importantly, the in-situ mechanical-electrochemical test demonstrates exceptional performance, retaining an ultra-high capacity of 98.7 % under a tensile stress of 80 MPa, and maintaining a capacity retention rate of 97 % with an average capacity decay per cycle of only 0.18 % under a bending stress of 96.3 MPa. In addition, finite element analysis is also used to verify the failure mechanism of the battery under bending load. Meanwhile, the fabricated structural battery can be applied to autonomous mobile robots, showing the multifunction energy storage and load-bearing. As a result, this work showcases the great potential of incorporating high-performance structural batteries into engineering applications such as small-scale warehousing, logistics equipment, and intelligent robotics. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Partial lithiation strategies for silicon composite electrodes are experimentally investigated in this article. Two types of partial lithiation, i.e. voltage- and capacity-control strategies, are presented. Capacity loss and irreversibility of silicon electrodes are significantly suppressed by either partial lithiation strategy without any complicated modifications or treatments. The capacity of partially lithiated silicon electrodes is even higher than that of fully lithiated one after certain cycles. The images of scanning electron microscope suggest that the mechanical damage generated in partially lithiated electrodes is less than that in fully lithiated one. Furthermore, after dozens of cycles with partial lithiation, capacity decay also slows down in subsequent full charge-discharge cycles. The presented experimental results suggest that the partial lithiation strategy relieves the coupled mechanical-electrochemical degradation and is a promising approach for the long-term use of silicon composite electrodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]