On electrolyte wetting through lithium-ion battery separators

Journal Article · 28 August 2020 · Extreme Mechanics Letters

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eml.2020.100960 · OSTI ID:1659565

Davoodabadi, Ali ^[1]; Jin, Congrui ^[2]; Wood III, David L.  ^[3]; Singler, Timothy J. ^[4]; Li, Jianlin  ^[3]

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1. Binghamton Univ., NY (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
2. Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE (United States). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering
3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Energy and Transportation Science Division
4. Binghamton Univ., NY (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering Program

The wettability by electrolyte is a critical characteristic of lithium-ion battery separators since electrolyte absorption is essential for ionic transport. Most importantly, fast absorption of electrolyte facilitates the electrolyte filling and wetting processes during the battery assembly. However, theoretical or experimental investigation of separator wettability has rarely been reported, and thus very little quantitative data can be found in the existing literature. Here, innovative experimental techniques and associated analytical models have been developed to fully characterize the electrolyte wetting behavior through battery separators. Both in-plane and through-plane imbibition processes are investigated. The results show that, electrolyte needs significantly longer time to wet separators than it does for commercial electrodes. The wetting rate depends significantly on the pore size, porosity, and micro-structure of the separators. Electrolyte in-plane wetting is only observed in the separators manufactured by the wet process. Increasing separator porosity and pore size is shown to be substantially increasing through-plane wetting rate. In addition, ceramic coating is shown to increase in-plane wetting but retard through-plane wetting.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Transportation Office. Vehicle Technologies Office
• Grant/Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1659565
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1657874
• Journal Information: Extreme Mechanics Letters, Vol. 40; ISSN 2352-4316
• Publisher: ElsevierCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English