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Pressure-Driven Contact Mechanics Evolution of Cathode Interfaces in Lithium Batteries

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Abstract

The interfacial instability due to periodic volume expansion of electrodes in the charging and discharging process directly affects the contact performance and interface impedance between the electrodes and the solid-state electrolyte (SSE). The existing work has studied the local stress state behavior on a single spatial scale or only focused on the interfacial influence of electrochemical characteristics at a specific time. In this paper, a semi-analytical method-based chemoelastic contact model was developed to study the evolution behavior of the cathode/SSE interface, and the stress and displacement fields subjected to contact forces were calculated by means of the discrete convolution-fast Fourier transform algorithm. The interface evolution subjected to mechanical pressure was analyzed for the local influence of the stress at one position at a specified time on the contact behavior at the present time and position, and the global influence of those at other positions at a later time. Based on this model, the mechanical-chemical coupling effect of lithium intercalation on interface stability was quantitatively studied, and the mechanism of enhancing interfacial contact stability by mechanical load was further explored. The results show that a larger current causes the contact toward the center, while a larger mechanical force leads to a smaller pressure peak. With the increase in mechanical force, the compressive stress in the contact area decreases significantly, while the tensile stress outside the contact area increases slightly. Based on the model results, a transition map was constructed with bonder equation (\(P/I = 25 \rm MPa \cdot \rm cm ^2 / \rm mA\)) to define whether an interfacial contact is stable or not. Quantitatively, applying a mechanical pressure \(P/I > 25 \rm MPa \cdot \rm cm ^2 / \rm mA\) can maintain a stable interfacial contact between the SSE and the cathode. The proposed model provides a theoretical basis in the chemomechanics view for the understanding of using pressure to suppress diffusion-induced contact instability in lithium batteries.

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Acknowledgements

We appreciated Le Zhao at Southwest Jiaotong University for helpful discussions.

Funding

The authors would like to acknowledge the support from the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2020YFB1600601), the Sichuan Science and Technology Program (2021YFG0217), and the Medico-Engineering Cooperation Funds from University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (ZYGX2021YGLH024).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Defective Product Administrative Center, State Administration for Market Regulation, Beijing, 100101, China

    Min Chen, Lingyun Xiao, Honglei Dong & Jie Fan

  2. China Merchants Testing Vehicle Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd., Chongqing, 400000, China

    Min Chen

  3. School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China

    Xin Zhang

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  1. Min Chen
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  2. Lingyun Xiao
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  3. Honglei Dong
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  4. Jie Fan
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Contributions

MC contributed to methodology, software, validation, and writing—original draft. LX contributed to writing—review and editing, and supervision. HD contributed to validation. JF contributed to software. XZ contributed to conceptualization, software, writing—review and editing, and supervision.

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Correspondence to Lingyun Xiao or Xin Zhang.

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Chen, M., Xiao, L., Dong, H. et al. Pressure-Driven Contact Mechanics Evolution of Cathode Interfaces in Lithium Batteries. Acta Mech. Solida Sin. 36, 65–75 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10338-022-00348-x

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