Direct Measurement of Lithium Transport in Graphite Electrodes with Neutrons

Published

April 1, 2012

Author(s)

David Jacobson, Jeffrey J. Gagliardo, Jon P. Owejan, Stephen J. Harris, Howard Wang, Daniel Hussey

Abstract

Lithium intercalation into graphite electrodes is widely studied, but few direct in-situ diagnostic methods exist. Such diagnostic methods are desired as they will enable researchers to probe the influence of factors such as charge rate, electrode structure and solid electrolyte interphase layer transport resistance as they relate to lithium-ion battery performance and durability. In this work, we present a continuous measurement of through-plane lithium distributions in a composite graphite/lithium metal electrochemical cell. Capacity change in a thick graphite electrode was measured during several charge/discharge cycles with high resolution (13 m) neutron imaging. A custom test fixture and a method for quantifying lithium are described. Bulk transport resistance is considered by comparing intercalation rates through the thickness of the electrode near the separator and current collector. The measured lithium distribution within the graphite electrode is shown as a function of state-of-charge, number of cycles and residual in the fully charged state.

Citation

Journal of the Electrochemical Society

Pub Type

Journals

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DOI Link

Keywords

battery, high-resolution, ion, lithium, neutron, radiography

Citation

Jacobson, D. , Gagliardo, J. , Owejan, J. , Harris, S. , Wang, H. and Hussey, D. (2012), Direct Measurement of Lithium Transport in Graphite Electrodes with Neutrons, Journal of the Electrochemical Society, [online], https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2012.01.047 (Accessed March 11, 2026)