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Title: Editors' Choice—Mesoscale Analysis of Conductive Binder Domain Morphology in Lithium-Ion Battery Electrodes

Abstract

Typical lithium-ion battery electrodes are porous composites comprised of active material, conductive additives, and polymeric binder, with liquid electrolyte filling the pores. The mesoscale morphology of these constituent phases has a significant impact on both electrochemical reactions and transport across the electrode, which can ultimately limit macroscale battery performance. We reconstruct published X-ray computed tomography (XCT) data from a NMC333 cathode to study mesoscale electrode behavior on an as-manufactured electrode geometry. We present and compare two distinct models that computationally generate a composite binder domain (CBD) phase that represents both the polymeric binder and conductive additives. We compare the effect of the resulting CBD morphologies on electrochemically active area, pore phase tortuosity, and effective electrical conductivity. Both dense and nanoporous CBD are considered, and we observe that acknowledging CBD nanoporosity significantly increases effective electrical conductivity by up to an order of magnitude. Properties are compared to published measurements as well as to approximate values often used in homogenized battery-scale models. All reconstructions exhibit less than 20% of the standard electrochemically active area approximation. Order of magnitude discrepancies are observed between two popular transport simulation numerical schemes (finite element method and finite volume method), highlighting the importance of careful numerical verification.

Authors:
ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ; ; ; ORCiD logo
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Transportation Office. Vehicle Technologies Office; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Vehicle Technologies Office (EE-3V)
OSTI Identifier:
1477810
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1483974
Report Number(s):
SAND-2018-11856J
Journal ID: ISSN 0013-4651; /jes/165/13/E725.atom
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC04-94AL85000; NA0003525
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Journal of the Electrochemical Society
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Journal of the Electrochemical Society Journal Volume: 165 Journal Issue: 13; Journal ID: ISSN 0013-4651
Publisher:
The Electrochemical Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; 25 ENERGY STORAGE; Batteries; Electrode Kinetics; Mesoscale; Tortuosity; Transport

Citation Formats

Trembacki, Bradley L., Mistry, Aashutosh N., Noble, David R., Ferraro, Mark E., Mukherjee, Partha P., and Roberts, Scott A.. Editors' Choice—Mesoscale Analysis of Conductive Binder Domain Morphology in Lithium-Ion Battery Electrodes. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1149/2.0981813jes.
Trembacki, Bradley L., Mistry, Aashutosh N., Noble, David R., Ferraro, Mark E., Mukherjee, Partha P., & Roberts, Scott A.. Editors' Choice—Mesoscale Analysis of Conductive Binder Domain Morphology in Lithium-Ion Battery Electrodes. United States. https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0981813jes
Trembacki, Bradley L., Mistry, Aashutosh N., Noble, David R., Ferraro, Mark E., Mukherjee, Partha P., and Roberts, Scott A.. Tue . "Editors' Choice—Mesoscale Analysis of Conductive Binder Domain Morphology in Lithium-Ion Battery Electrodes". United States. https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0981813jes.
@article{osti_1477810,
title = {Editors' Choice—Mesoscale Analysis of Conductive Binder Domain Morphology in Lithium-Ion Battery Electrodes},
author = {Trembacki, Bradley L. and Mistry, Aashutosh N. and Noble, David R. and Ferraro, Mark E. and Mukherjee, Partha P. and Roberts, Scott A.},
abstractNote = {Typical lithium-ion battery electrodes are porous composites comprised of active material, conductive additives, and polymeric binder, with liquid electrolyte filling the pores. The mesoscale morphology of these constituent phases has a significant impact on both electrochemical reactions and transport across the electrode, which can ultimately limit macroscale battery performance. We reconstruct published X-ray computed tomography (XCT) data from a NMC333 cathode to study mesoscale electrode behavior on an as-manufactured electrode geometry. We present and compare two distinct models that computationally generate a composite binder domain (CBD) phase that represents both the polymeric binder and conductive additives. We compare the effect of the resulting CBD morphologies on electrochemically active area, pore phase tortuosity, and effective electrical conductivity. Both dense and nanoporous CBD are considered, and we observe that acknowledging CBD nanoporosity significantly increases effective electrical conductivity by up to an order of magnitude. Properties are compared to published measurements as well as to approximate values often used in homogenized battery-scale models. All reconstructions exhibit less than 20% of the standard electrochemically active area approximation. Order of magnitude discrepancies are observed between two popular transport simulation numerical schemes (finite element method and finite volume method), highlighting the importance of careful numerical verification.},
doi = {10.1149/2.0981813jes},
journal = {Journal of the Electrochemical Society},
number = 13,
volume = 165,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Oct 16 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Tue Oct 16 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0981813jes

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Cited by: 70 works
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