The significance of measuring the expansion behavior of silicon-based anode
Due to its unique advantages such as high specific capacity (4200mAh/g) and rich resources, silicon (Si) anode is expected to replace the graphite anode and become the main anode material for the next generation of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, the rapid capacity degradation of silicon materials during the cycling process seriously hinderedits practical applications. This is due to the large volume expansion of silicon anode of more than three times during the intercalation process of lithium-ions, which will destroy the original solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formed on the surface of the silicon anodes. During the cycling of the LIBs, the SEI will be destroyed and regenerated continually, which consumes a large amount of electrolyte and results in a rapid degradation of the capacity. Therefore, it is urgent to solve the problems caused by the volume expansion of silicon anode.
At present, researchers often use composite technology (e.g, "buffer skeleton") to compensate the volume expansion of silicon materials. The common composite routes include silicon-carbon composites, silicon-polymer composites, silicon-based alloy composites, and so on. Silicon-carbon composites are relatively easy and these two elements can also be tightly combined. Because it combines the high stability and conductivity of carbon materials, with the high specific capacity of silicon materials, the silicon-carbon anodes can not only effectively suppresses the volume expansion within a controllable range, but also increase the energy density and cycle life of the LIBs. Thus, it is regard as the most promising silicon-based anode for industrialization, and has received a lot of attentions.
It is worth noting that although the composite technology can alleviate the volume expansion of silicon-based anode, it still cannot fundamentally solve the expansion problem. With the increase of silicon content in silicon-based anode, the volume expansion also becomes more significant. Therefore, it has great significance for the research and manufacturing of silicon-based anodes if the volume expansion behavior of silicon-based anodes can be rapidly evaluated during the charging and discharging.
Features:
- In-situ characterization of the expansion thickness change of the silicon based system
- Four-channel for testing multiple cells simultaneously
- Suitable for cells with various structures: model coin cell, stacked cell and pouch cell, etc.
- Visual operation interface, one-click to export the data
Model Types:
 |
IE0501 | IE0502 | IE0503 | IE0504 |
| Number of channels | 4 | 4 | ||
| Pressure control mode | By weight | By servo motor | ||
| Pressure range | 0.5kg/1kg/5kg (Customizable according to customer needs) |
1~100kg | ||
| Pressure Resolution / accuracy | ±0.01kg | 0.1kg/±0.3%F.S. | ||
| Thickness range | ±5mm | ±5mm | ±5mm | ±5mm |
| Thickness detection resolution / precision | 0.1µm/±1µm | 0.01μm/±0.1μm | 0.1µm/±1µm | 0.01μm/±0.1μm |
| Systematic error | ≤3% | ≤3% | ≤3% | ≤3% |
| Maximum size of cell | 60*90*4mm（can be customized according to specific needs） | |||
Examples:
1 . In-situ expansion test of model coin cell:
- Cell parameters: Coin Full coin cell(NCM811/SiC), with the capacity of about 3mAh;
- Experimental parameters: Three parallel samples, charging and discharging for three cycles, and synchronously record the expansion thickness of these three full coin cells.
- Experimental result:
- Cell parameters: Multi-layer stacked cell (NCM811 / SiC), with a capacity of about 400mAh;
- Experimental parameters:Three parallel samples, synchronously test the thickness expansion ratioat a constant pressure of 0.1MPa
- Experimental result:
- Cell parameters: Multi-layer pouch cell with winding structure (NCM811 / SiC), capacity of about 400mAh;
- Experimental parameters: synchronously test thickness expansion ratio at a constant pressure of 0.1MPa.
- Experimental result:
The multilayer pouch cell expands/contracts with the charging/discharging process, and the thickness expansion curves of three parallel samples maintain good repeatability for both two cycles. When the pouch cell is fully charged, the corresponding maximum expansion ratio is about 4.3%, and the expansion thickness COV between the three groups of batteries is 1.9%, indicating that the consistency among these three parallel samples.
