In lithium-ion battery manufacturing, wetting of active materials is a time-critical process. Consequently, the impact of possible process chain extensions such as lamination needs to be explored to potentially improve the efficiency of the electrode and separator stacking process in battery cell manufacturing. This paper addresses the research gap of the unexplored effects of lamination on the wetting rate of electrode-separator assemblies in pouch cells. Based on the triangulation of three measurement techniques (gravimetric, optical, electrochemical), a correlation between lamination and wettability of electrode-separator assemblies is experimentally demonstrated, thus providing an important research contribution.
Electrolyte filling and wetting are safety‐relevant and time‐ and cost‐intensive processes in lithium‐ion cell production, and are hence critical process steps. Currently, only limited measurement technologies are available that would be suitable for inline monitoring and quality assurance of these process sequences. Herein, two promising electrochemical approaches for monitoring electrolyte wetting are presented, which can be utilized in low‐cost measurement devices. Starting from the introduction of a simplified impedance approach with a straightforward data evaluation, a direct current‐based method is introduced that does not require impedance equipment, and can thus be performed with standard battery cyclers. First, the extended applicability of the simplified impedance measurement is demonstrated by examining the dependence of experimental impedance results on varying electrolyte volumes, also including insufficient amounts. Subsequently, the impedance approach is transferred into the direct current method. The latter mimics impedance signals by utilizing repetitive direct current charge and discharge pulses, which are used to determine the batteries’ internal resistance during the electrolyte wetting. Both introduced approaches yield comparable results and allow the inline monitoring of the electrolyte wetting with basic equipment and with no need for demanding data evaluation.
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