Effects of Lithium Plating Morphology on Thermal Safety for Lithium Ion Batteries

Over the last decade, the electric vehicle (EV) has significantly changed the car industry globally, driven by Li-ion battery technology's fast development. However, the fire risk and hazard associated with this type of high-energy battery has become a significant safety concern for EVs. This report focuses on the thermal safety of lithium ion battery (LIB) with different lithium plating morphology. The orthogonal experimental design method is used to control the LIBs cycle and lithium plating condition. The L3⁴ table was designed for cycling the LIBs, considering temperature, cut-off voltage, charging rate and pressure. The safety was evaluated by accelerating rate calorimetry (ARC). The self-heating onset temperature (T_sh) and thermal runaway onset temperature (T_tr) comparison between new cells and lithium plating cells show a significant deterioration. For LIB with different lithium plating morphology, including mossy and dendrite, the time duration from Tsh to Ttr presents a valuable conclusion that Δt_dendritic is lower than Δt_mossy. It can be explained by exposed surface area difference for dendritic and mossy.