Best Practice: Performance and Cost Evaluation of Lithium Ion Battery Active Materials with Special Emphasis on Energy Efficiency

Li-ion cells are used in a variety of mobile and stationary applications. Their use must be safe under all conditions, even for aged cells in second-life applications. In the present study, different aging mechanisms are taken into account for accelerating rate calorimetry (ARC) tests. 18650-type cells are cycled at 0 • C (Li plating expected) and at 45 • C (SEI growth expected). After extensive evaluation of the electrochemical results (voltage curve analysis, capacity fade, energy fade, Coulombic efficiency), the cells are tested by PostMortem analysis (CT, GD-OES, SEM) to reveal the main aging mechanisms and by ARC to test the safety behavior. Besides typical ARC results such as onset-of-self-heating, onset-of-thermal runaway and maximum temperatures, as well as acoustic responses of thermal runaway are evaluated and a method is developed to compare fresh cells and cells aged until different SOHs. It turns out that the safety of aged cells is not simply a function of the SOH. However, safety is strongly affected by the main aging mechanism and to the history of operating parameters during the life-time of the cell. Driven by the demand for higher capacity, lower volume, and lower weight, Li-ion technology was developed in the 1980s.1,2 Nowadays, Li-ion technology is used for energy storage in a large variety of applications, e.g. smartphones, tablets, or drones. In particular, electric vehicles in combination with renewable energy sources are promising for reducing climate change and the corresponding glacier melting and sea level rise which is influenced by burning fossil fuels.3-6 For all applications, the safety behavior under all specified operating conditions is most important.7-9 The same is true for aged Li-ion cells used in second-life applications, for example cells which are utilized in stationary energy storage applications after their usage in electric cars.In the past, failure of Li-ion cells led to product recalls which are very expensive for the manufacturers and unsettle customers, even if such incidents happen only in very few cases (ppm range).10 At the moment, safety tests have to be performed with Li-ion prototypes cells before market release. In these tests, fresh cells are always used, however, aged cells are usually neglected. Even if fresh cells show an acceptable safety behavior, this can change for aged cells. 7,[11][12][13][14][15] While some authors observed decreases for certain safety properties, 7,11,12 others found improvements. 12,13,15 It is well known that aging mechanisms change the properties of the materials inside Li-ion cells. [16][17][18][19] Operating conditions and materials have a strong influence on these aging mechanisms. 12,[20][21][22][23] We recently reported on a change of the aging mechanism with temperature for cycling aging of commercial 18650-type cells with graphite anodes and NMC/LMO cathodes. 20 This mechanism change is expressed by a V-shape in Arrhenius plots of the capacity fade rates obtained from cycling at different ambient temperatures. 20 This c...

“…Depending on the electricity price, η is also more or less important in terms of costs. 46 Our data for the first cycle show that η is 92.5% for 45…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 70%

“…Figure 2d shows the energy efficiency η, which is defined as the quotient of discharged and charged energy. As recently discussed by Meister et al, 46 η is very important when large numbers of batteries are used. Depending on the electricity price, η is also more or less important in terms of costs.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Electrochemical, Post-Mortem, and ARC Analysis of Li-Ion Cell Safety in Second-Life Applications

Waldmann

Quinn

Richter

et al. 2017

“…7 Graphite also displays a very low voltage hysteresis, which in turn results in high energy efficiency. 8 For applications in lithium-ion batteries, many properties of the graphite powders must be optimized including crystallinity, particle size, morphology, and surface chemistry. However, most research effort has been placed on the development and characterization of high performance cathodes, while the impact of the graphite anode on full cell performance has been largely unexplored.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Selecting the Best Graphite for Long-Life, High-Energy Li-Ion Batteries

Mao

Wood

David

et al. 2018

Most lithium-ion batteries still rely on intercalation-type graphite materials for anodes, so it is important to consider their role in full cells for applications in electric vehicles. Here, we systematically evaluate the chemical and physical properties of six commerciallyavailable natural and synthetic graphites to establish which factors have the greatest impact on the cycling stability of full cells with nickel-rich LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2 (NMC811) cathodes. Electrochemical data and post-mortem characterization explain the origin of capacity fade. The NMC811 cathode shows large irreversible capacity loss and impedance growth, accounting for much of full cell degradation. However, six graphite anodes demonstrate significant differences with respect to structural change, surface area, impedance growth, and SEI chemistry, which impact overall capacity retention. We found long cycle life correlated most strongly with stable graphite crystallite size. In addition, graphites with lower surface area generally had higher coulombic efficiencies during formation cycles, which led to more stable long-term cycling. The best graphite screened here enables a capacity retention around 90% in full pouch cells over extensive long-term cycling compared to only 82% for cells with the lowest performing graphite. The results show that optimal graphite selection improves cycling stability of high energy lithium-ion cells. With the booming demands for electric vehicles and electronic devices, high energy density lithium-ion batteries with long cycle life are highly desired. Despite the recent progress in Si 1 and Li metal 2 as future anode materials, graphite still remains the active material of choice for the negative electrode. 3,4 Lithium ions can be intercalated into graphite sheets at various stages like Li x C 12 and Li x C 6 , providing a high specific capacity of 372 mAh/g (∼2.5 times higher than LiCoO 2 ) and high volumetric capacity (similar to LiCoO 2 ) corresponding to LiC 6 . 5,6 In addition to its low cost and non-toxicity, graphite has a lowest average voltage (150 mV vs. Li/Li + ) and the flat voltage profile, rendering a high overall cell voltage. 7 Graphite also displays a very low voltage hysteresis, which in turn results in high energy efficiency. 8 For applications in lithium-ion batteries, many properties of the graphite powders must be optimized including crystallinity, particle size, morphology, and surface chemistry. However, most research effort has been placed on the development and characterization of high performance cathodes, while the impact of the graphite anode on full cell performance has been largely unexplored.Compared to widely used battery cathodes such as LiCoO 2 (140 mAh/g), LiFePO 4 (160 mAh/g), LiNi 1/3 Mn 1/3 Co 1/3 O 2 (160 mAh/g), and LiNi 0.5 Mn 0.3 Co 0.2 O 2 (175 mAh/g), 9-11 nickel-rich LiNi 0.8 Mn 0.1 Co 0.1 O 2 (NMC811) is delivers a higher specific capacity (180-220 mAh/g), which increases the battery life on a single charge. 12,13 The high capacity arises because Ni is the main red...

“…[18][19][20] The usefulness of P-based additives for HV applications has been recently reported. 11,21,22 2 ], also referred to as LiBFEP; see E in Scheme 1) has been used as a coordinationpolymer-based gel electrolyte in our recent work. 32 LiBFEP forms a viscous gel in EC/DMC (1/1 g:g) at 0.5 M with a rather low conductivity of 41.8 μS·cm −1 at room temperature.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Lithium Bis(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl)phosphate Li[O₂P(OCH₂CF₃)₂]: A High Voltage Additive for LNMO/Graphite Cells

Milien

Beyer

Beichel

et al. 2018

The fluorinated phosphate lithium bis (2,2,2-trifluoroethyl) phosphate (LiBFEP) has been investigated as a film-forming additive employed to passivate the cathode and hinder continuous oxidation of the electrolyte. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and linear sweep voltammetry coupled with online electrochemical mass spectrometry (LSV-OEMS) on a conductive carbon electrode (i.e., a C65/PVDF composite) showed that LiBFEP decreases electrolyte oxidation (CV and LSV) and LiPF 6 decomposition at high potentials. Incorporation of LiBFEP (0.1 and 0.5 wt%) into LiPF 6 in ethylene carbonate (EC)/ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC) (3:7 wt) results in improved coulombic efficiency and capacity retention for LNMO/graphite cells. Ex-situ surface analysis of the electrodes suggests that incorporation of LiBFEP results in the formation of a cathode electrolyte interface (CEI) and modification of the solid electrolyte interface (SEI) on the anode. The formation of the CEI mitigates electrolyte oxidation and prevents the decomposition of LiPF 6 , which in turn prevents HF-induced manganese dissolution from the cathode and destabilization of the SEI. The passivation of the cathode and stabilization of the SEI is responsible for the increased coulombic efficiency and capacity retention. Since their debut in 1991, lithium ion batteries (LIB) have become the universal power source for consumer electronics.1 Larger format LIBs such as those needed to power electric vehicles (EVs), an important future market, have amassed considerable interest; however higher specific energy densities are required for larger format LIBs.1,2 The practical way to increase energy density is to employ cathode materials with increased theoretical capacities and/or high discharge plateaus, and thus high energy (HE) or high voltage (HV) cathodes are required in order for LIBs to meet the demands of the EV market.3 While both HE and HV cathodes have been implemented, current research efforts are focused on overcoming the caveats associated with these materials. The oxidative instability of carbonate-based electrolytes is a central limitation for cells with various cathode chemistries operated above 4.4 V. [3][4][5][6][7] In addition to the instability of the electrolyte, cathodes such as nickel-rich layered oxides (LiNi x Mn y Co z O 2 ), lithium-rich layered oxides (0.6 Li 2 MnO 3 • 0.4 Li(Ni 1/3 Co 1/3 Mn 1/3 )O 2 ), and HV spinel (LiNi 0.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 ) (LNMO) all suffer from structural instability when operated at high potentials.5-11 While the layered oxides are capable of delivering higher practical energy densities, the lack of cobalt in LNMO alleviates the issues of cost and resource limitations.7 As the higher energy densities associated with HE materials can only be obtained at higher cutoff potentials, oxidation of the electrolyte is a universal problem to both HE and HV cathodes. This work focuses on improving the performance of LNMO/Graphite cells.The capacity fading observed in LNMO/Graphite cells is due to continuous oxidation of the electrolyte and transition...