Quantifying the Impact of Microstructure Variation on Charging Capability in Lithium-Ion Batteries

Through the use of electrochemical simulations, variation in the local onset of lithium plating can be predicted and used to set charging guidelines to reduce the risk of lithium plating. The pseudo-two-dimensional (P2D) model is typically used for capturing this behavior; however, it only provides a global lithium plating onset estimate and does not consider the local variation. With material properties translated to an average continuum value, the P2D model can simulate rapid charge and capture global onset of lithium plating. However, this model lacks the ability to resolve localized behaviors across individual components due to local non-uniformities. Our three-dimensional microstructure-based (3DMS) modeling method that we employ to simulate rapid charge and capture local performance across the electrochemical components while agreeing with P2D model. Using the 3DMS model, we predict the onset of local lithium plating to design more conservative charging conditions to delay the onset of lithium plating and improve the performance of these electrochemical systems. In this work, several similar microstructures are evaluated for the lithium plating onset time during fast charge operation. A small normal distribution for particle sizes are explored to drive variation in performance and are compared to a uniform particle size structure.