In operando neutron diffraction study of a commercial graphite/(Ni, Mn, Co) oxide-based multi-component lithium ion battery

In situ neutron diffraction was employed to investigate the structural evolution of the electrode materials in an ICR 10440 commercial cylindrical lithium-ion battery, which has a discharge capacity of 360 mAh and a nominal voltage of 3.7 V. A three-phase mixture of Li(Ni,Mn,Co)O2, LiCoO2 and LiMn2O4 was identified as the active material of the cathode, with graphite acting as the anode material. The study revealed that the graphite anode underwent structural changes to form a series of insertion-type lithiated derivatives, with up to 12.7% volume expansion for the Li-saturated compound LiC6. The charge-discharge behavior was more complex for the cathode. Here, the charge process was associated with partial lithium depletion from the initially Li-saturated compounds, leading to volume shrinkage for Li(Ni,Mn,Co)O2, in contrast to (Ni,Mn)-free LiCoO2. Electrochemical discharge experiments performed under a fast regime (2 C) at 5, 25 and 45 °C revealed that the discharge capacity followed the trend of an increased diffusion rate of Li+ ions in the electrolyte and Li atoms in both electrodes, being highest for 45 °C. At the lowest tested temperature (5 °C), a rapid drop in the discharge capacity took place using the same kinetic regime.