Tuning the Particle Size Distribution at Cathode for Enhanced Li-Ion Battery Performance

Abstract

The Li-ion battery's diverse applications necessitate the quest to design energy and powerdense electrode microstructure. The present study uses the Doyle-Newman framework to probe the interplay of cathode particle size configurations for various current densities. Our study reveals the interplay of cathode particle size distribution and C-rate on cell performance characteristics. Further, the cell performs better when the cathode employs a cathode particle size configuration arranged non-uniformly. Moreover, the cell characteristics, viz. specific energy, specific power, and capacity, are highest for the configuration where the cathode particle size increases in the direction of the cathode current collector interface. Additionally, losses are relatively lesser in this configuration. Furthermore, the cell characteristics become more significant for higher current density. In addition, as particle size grows at a higher rate, the improvement in cell performance is significant. Our findings bear utility towards advancement in cathode on the microstructural scale and offer better spatiotemporal ionic transport kinetics.