Dependency of the charge–discharge rate on lithium reaction distributions for a commercial lithium coin cell visualized by compton scattering imaging

Abstract

In this study, lithium reaction distributions, dependent on the charge–discharge rate, were non-destructively visualized for a commercial lithium-ion battery, using the Compton scattering imaging technique. By comparing lithium reaction distributions obtained at two different charge–discharge speeds, residual lithium ions were detected at the center of the negative electrode in a fully discharged state, at a relatively high-speed discharge rate. Moreover, we confirmed that inhomogeneous reactions were facilitated at a relatively high-speed charge–discharge rate, in both the negative and positive electrodes. A feature of our technique is that it can be applied to commercially used lithium-ion batteries, because it uses high-energy X-rays with high penetration power. Our technique thus opens a novel analyzing pathway for developing advanced batteries.