Lithium plating in lithium-ion batteries investigated by voltage relaxation and in situ neutron diffraction

• Published in: Journal of power sources 2017-02, Vol.342, p.17-23
• Main Authors: von Lüders, Christian, Zinth, Veronika, Erhard, Simon V., Osswald, Patrick J., Hofmann, Michael, Gilles, Ralph, Jossen, Andreas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Graphite lithiation; Lithium intercalation; Lithium plating; Lithium-ion batteries; Neutron diffraction; Voltage relaxation
• ISSN: 0378-7753; 1873-2755
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2016.12.032

In this work, lithium plating is investigated by means of voltage relaxation and in situ neutron diffraction in commercial lithium-ion batteries. We can directly correlate the voltage curve after the lithium plating with the ongoing phase transformation from LiC12 to LiC6 according to the neutron diffraction data during the relaxation. Above a threshold current of C/2 at a temperature of −2 °C, lithium plating increases dramatically. The results indicate that the intercalation rate of deposited lithium seems to be constant, independent of the deposited amount. It can be observed that the amount of plating correlates with the charging rate, whereas a charging current of C/2 leads to a deposited amount of lithium of 5.5% of the charge capacity and a current of 1C to 9.0%. •Study of lithium plating in commercial lithium-ion batteries at −2 °C by in situ neutron diffraction.•Significant increase of lithium plating for charging rates above C/2.•Intercalation rate of lithium into graphite independent of the amount of plated lithium.•Direct correlation between voltage relaxation and amount of deposited lithium.