Understanding the limits of rapid charging using instrumented commercial 18650 high-energy Li-ion cells

Tazdin Amietszajew; Euan McTurk; Joe Fleming; Rohit Bhagat

doi:10.1016/j.electacta.2018.01.076

Understanding the limits of rapid charging using instrumented commercial 18650 high-energy Li-ion cells

Tazdin Amietszajew, Euan McTurk, Joe Fleming, Rohit Bhagat

University of Warwick

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

93 Citations (Scopus)

99 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The charging rates of commercial high-energy Li-ion cells are limited by the manufacturer's specifications leading to lengthy charging times. However, these cells are typically capable of much faster charging, if one ensures that the thermal and electrode-specific voltage profiles do not exceed safety limits. Unfortunately, precise and in-situ measurements of these parameters have not been achieved to date without altering the operation of these cells. Here we present a method to assess the maximum current for commercial 18650s, using novel instrumentation methods enabling in operando measurements. We found the maximum charging current that could be safely applied to the evaluated high-energy cells is 6.7 times higher than the manufacturer-stated maximum. Subsequently a rapid-charging protocol was developed that leads to over five-fold reduction in charging times without compromising the safety limits of the cells. We anticipate our work to be a starting point for a more sophisticated understanding of commercial Li-ion cells through deployment of diverse in-situ sensor systems. This understanding will enable advances in battery materials science, thermal engineering and electrical engineering of battery technology. Furthermore, this work has the potential to help the design of energy storage systems for high performance applications such as motor racing and grid balancing.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	346-352
Number of pages	7
Journal	Electrochimica Acta
Volume	263
Early online date	12 Jan 2018
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2018.01.076
Publication status	Published - 10 Feb 2018

Bibliographical note

© 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Copyright © and Moral Rights are retained by the author(s) and/ or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This item cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.

Keywords

Li-ion cell instrumentation
Optical fibres
Rapid-charging
Reference electrode
Thermal management

Access to Document

10.1016/j.electacta.2018.01.076Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

PublishedFinal published version, 1.64 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

http://www.mendeley.com/research/understanding-limits-rapid-charging-using-instrumented-commercial-18650-highenergy-liion-cells

Taz Amietszajew
- Centre for E-Mobility and Clean Growth - Associate Professor (Research)
Person: Teaching and Research

Cite this

@article{bb3575c895474bac8ce0aaba36c2ae2e,

title = "Understanding the limits of rapid charging using instrumented commercial 18650 high-energy Li-ion cells",

abstract = "The charging rates of commercial high-energy Li-ion cells are limited by the manufacturer's specifications leading to lengthy charging times. However, these cells are typically capable of much faster charging, if one ensures that the thermal and electrode-specific voltage profiles do not exceed safety limits. Unfortunately, precise and in-situ measurements of these parameters have not been achieved to date without altering the operation of these cells. Here we present a method to assess the maximum current for commercial 18650s, using novel instrumentation methods enabling in operando measurements. We found the maximum charging current that could be safely applied to the evaluated high-energy cells is 6.7 times higher than the manufacturer-stated maximum. Subsequently a rapid-charging protocol was developed that leads to over five-fold reduction in charging times without compromising the safety limits of the cells. We anticipate our work to be a starting point for a more sophisticated understanding of commercial Li-ion cells through deployment of diverse in-situ sensor systems. This understanding will enable advances in battery materials science, thermal engineering and electrical engineering of battery technology. Furthermore, this work has the potential to help the design of energy storage systems for high performance applications such as motor racing and grid balancing.",

keywords = "Li-ion cell instrumentation, Optical fibres, Rapid-charging, Reference electrode, Thermal management",

author = "Tazdin Amietszajew and Euan McTurk and Joe Fleming and Rohit Bhagat",

note = "{\textcopyright} 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Copyright {\textcopyright} and Moral Rights are retained by the author(s) and/ or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This item cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.",

year = "2018",

month = feb,

day = "10",

doi = "10.1016/j.electacta.2018.01.076",

language = "English",

volume = "263",

pages = "346--352",

journal = "Electrochimica Acta",

issn = "0013-4686",

publisher = "Elsevier",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Understanding the limits of rapid charging using instrumented commercial 18650 high-energy Li-ion cells

AU - Amietszajew, Tazdin

AU - McTurk, Euan

AU - Fleming, Joe

AU - Bhagat, Rohit

N1 - © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Copyright © and Moral Rights are retained by the author(s) and/ or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This item cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.

PY - 2018/2/10

Y1 - 2018/2/10

N2 - The charging rates of commercial high-energy Li-ion cells are limited by the manufacturer's specifications leading to lengthy charging times. However, these cells are typically capable of much faster charging, if one ensures that the thermal and electrode-specific voltage profiles do not exceed safety limits. Unfortunately, precise and in-situ measurements of these parameters have not been achieved to date without altering the operation of these cells. Here we present a method to assess the maximum current for commercial 18650s, using novel instrumentation methods enabling in operando measurements. We found the maximum charging current that could be safely applied to the evaluated high-energy cells is 6.7 times higher than the manufacturer-stated maximum. Subsequently a rapid-charging protocol was developed that leads to over five-fold reduction in charging times without compromising the safety limits of the cells. We anticipate our work to be a starting point for a more sophisticated understanding of commercial Li-ion cells through deployment of diverse in-situ sensor systems. This understanding will enable advances in battery materials science, thermal engineering and electrical engineering of battery technology. Furthermore, this work has the potential to help the design of energy storage systems for high performance applications such as motor racing and grid balancing.

AB - The charging rates of commercial high-energy Li-ion cells are limited by the manufacturer's specifications leading to lengthy charging times. However, these cells are typically capable of much faster charging, if one ensures that the thermal and electrode-specific voltage profiles do not exceed safety limits. Unfortunately, precise and in-situ measurements of these parameters have not been achieved to date without altering the operation of these cells. Here we present a method to assess the maximum current for commercial 18650s, using novel instrumentation methods enabling in operando measurements. We found the maximum charging current that could be safely applied to the evaluated high-energy cells is 6.7 times higher than the manufacturer-stated maximum. Subsequently a rapid-charging protocol was developed that leads to over five-fold reduction in charging times without compromising the safety limits of the cells. We anticipate our work to be a starting point for a more sophisticated understanding of commercial Li-ion cells through deployment of diverse in-situ sensor systems. This understanding will enable advances in battery materials science, thermal engineering and electrical engineering of battery technology. Furthermore, this work has the potential to help the design of energy storage systems for high performance applications such as motor racing and grid balancing.

KW - Li-ion cell instrumentation

KW - Optical fibres

KW - Rapid-charging

KW - Reference electrode

KW - Thermal management

U2 - 10.1016/j.electacta.2018.01.076

DO - 10.1016/j.electacta.2018.01.076

M3 - Article

SN - 0013-4686

VL - 263

SP - 346

EP - 352

JO - Electrochimica Acta

JF - Electrochimica Acta

ER -

Understanding the limits of rapid charging using instrumented commercial 18650 high-energy Li-ion cells

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Profiles

Taz Amietszajew

Cite this