Impact of fast charging and low-temperature cycling on lithium-ion battery health: A comparative analysis

Fast charging and low temperatures create harsh conditions that promote lithium deposition on graphite anodes, which significantly accelerates the degradation of the battery's state of health (SoH) and eventually could result in safety concerns. In this work, commercial lithium-ion batteries are investigated under fast charging conditions and at low environmental temperatures. The findings are compared with lithium-ion battery cycled under ambient temperature conditions. The fast charging and low temperatures result in dead lithium formation, which is then characterized by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The low-temperature cycled battery exhibits significant growth of series resistance by an average of 73 %. In comparison, growth in charge transfer resistance is 16 %, and no significant change was observed in solid electrolyte interface (SEI) resistance due to the formation of dead lithium, compared to the battery cycled at ambient temperature. SEM images also confirm the dead lithium formation. The results provide insight into battery degradation in the case of high current due to low temperature and could lead to a better understanding of the degradation mechanism.