Spatially resolving lithium-ion battery aging by open-hardware scanning acoustic imaging

Journal of Power Sources, vol. 521, pp. 230825

Abstract

The internal mechanical condition of a lithium-ion battery is often disregarded but delivers essential information about the battery performance and lifetime. This work presents a method to measure the internal mechanical condition of lithium-ion cells with high spatial resolution through scanning acoustic imaging. An open-hardware ultrasound scan set-up has been engineered to increase the availability of acoustic imaging significantly. Using this set-up, three cells that were aged and clamped at different pressures have been imaged. The resulting ultrasound image clearly showed which parts of the cells have more severely aged than others. The cells which were clamped with the highest examined pressure (5 and 10 bar) showed the strongest covering layer and gas formation in the ultrasound scan. The mechanical effect of the aging seen in the ultrasound image was verified for each cell by conventional electrical and post-mortem analysis. At locations where the ultrasound image showed distinct irregularities, scanning electron microscopy images identified mossy surface layers typical for lithium plating.

Authors 6

1. David Wasylowski corresponding Aachen Chair for Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage Systems Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA)

   Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Chair for Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage Systems, Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA), RWTH Aachen University, Jägerstrasse 17-19, 52066 Aachen, Germany

   Jülich Aachen Research Alliance, JARA-Energy, Templergraben 55, 52056 Aachen, Germany

2. Niklas Kisseler Aachen Chair for Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage Systems Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA)

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Chair for Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage Systems, Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA), RWTH Aachen University, Jägerstrasse 17-19, 52066 Aachen, Germany

3. Heinrich Ditler Aachen Chair for Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage Systems Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA)

   Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Chair for Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage Systems, Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA), RWTH Aachen University, Jägerstrasse 17-19, 52066 Aachen, Germany

   Jülich Aachen Research Alliance, JARA-Energy, Templergraben 55, 52056 Aachen, Germany

4. Morian Sonnet Aachen Chair for Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage Systems Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA)

   Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Chair for Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage Systems, Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA), RWTH Aachen University, Jägerstrasse 17-19, 52066 Aachen, Germany

   Jülich Aachen Research Alliance, JARA-Energy, Templergraben 55, 52056 Aachen, Germany

5. Florian Ringbeck Aachen Chair for Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage Systems Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA)

   Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Chair for Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage Systems, Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA), RWTH Aachen University, Jägerstrasse 17-19, 52066 Aachen, Germany

   Jülich Aachen Research Alliance, JARA-Energy, Templergraben 55, 52056 Aachen, Germany

6. Dirk Uwe Sauer Aachen Chair for Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage Systems Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA) Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS)

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Helmholtz-Institute Münster · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Chair for Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage Systems, Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA), RWTH Aachen University, Jägerstrasse 17-19, 52066 Aachen, Germany

   Helmholtz Institute Münster (HI MS), IEK 12, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany

   Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS), E.ON ERC, RWTH Aachen University, Mathieustrasse 10, 52074 Aachen, Germany

   Jülich Aachen Research Alliance, JARA-Energy, Templergraben 55, 52056 Aachen, Germany