Extreme fast charging of commercial Li-ion batteries via combined thermal switching and self-heating approaches

Abstract

The mass adoption of electric vehicles is hindered by the inadequate extreme fast charging (XFC) performance (i.e., less than 15 min charging time to reach 80% state of charge) of commercial high-specific-energy (i.e., >200 Wh/kg) lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Here, to enable the XFC of commercial LIBs, we propose the regulation of the battery’s self-generated heat via active thermal switching. We demonstrate that retaining the heat during XFC with the switch OFF boosts the cell’s kinetics while dissipating the heat after XFC with the switch ON reduces detrimental reactions in the battery. Without modifying cell materials or structures, the proposed XFC approach enables reliable battery operation by applying <15 min of charge and 1 h of discharge. These results are almost identical regarding operativity for the same battery type tested applying a 1 h of charge and 1 h of discharge, thus, meeting the XFC targets set by the United States Department of Energy. Finally, we also demonstrate the feasibility of integrating the XFC approach in a commercial battery thermal management system.

Emerging Multiscale Porous Anodes toward Fast Charging Lithium-Ion Batteries

“…With the development of LIBs fast charging technology, high-performance battery management systems also face ever-tougher challenges. First is thermal management and safety issues. ,,,− To achieve fast charging, advanced thermal management systems need to be developed. This means that heat is efficiently and uniformly extracted from the battery to avoid overheating phenomena while also ensuring that the battery remains safe during charging.…”

Azacyclic Anchor‐Enabled Cohesive Graphite Electrodes for Sustainable Anion Storage

“…Instead, dual‐ion batteries (DIBs), with their mechanism of simultaneous storage of cations (i.e., lithium (Li)‐ions) and anions, have emerged as a promising EV power candidate, greatly surpassing extreme fast charging (XFC, <15 min of charging time to reach 80% of state‐of‐charge) capabilities comparable to gasoline vehicles. [ 7–12 ] Specifically, during the charging, Li‐ions in the electrolyte of the DIBs are stored in the anode and anions in the graphite cathode, and the short diffusion length of charge carrier ions combined with the pseudocapacitive graphite allows for ultrafast charging (78% capacity retention, up to 100 C). [ 13–14 ] Moreover, the graphite cathode is abundant and inexpensive on earth, and it offers a competitive energy density (>300 Wh kg −1 based on graphite mass) and overwhelming operating voltage of >5 V (vs Li/Li + ) by intercalating anions compared with the 4 V‐class cathodes (e.g., LiNi x Mn y Co 1− x − y O 2 (NMC, x ≥ 0.6)) of conventional LIBs.…”

Phase Change Nanocapsules Enabling Dual-Mode Thermal Management for Fast-Charging Lithium-Ion Batteries

“…For example, embedding a nickel foil as a heater or using thermal switches with coolant modulation can efficiently modulate the battery temperature. However, the former is easy to lose control and can cause thermal abuse, and the implementation of the latter engineering setup on individual cells presents challenges at the pack level. , In addition, the efficiency of energy utilization is reduced due to the extra electrical energy consumed in warming the batteries. For the fast-charging LIBs in room or warmer environments, the accumulated heat by heat release results in a high operating temperature, which shortens the life span (the calendar life is approximately halved with a temperature rise of 13 °C) and becomes a risk to trigger thermal runaway. − Meanwhile, the degradation of the electrode structure at high temperatures is hardly avoidable.…”