Lithium Ion Battery Laboratory

The EERL has the facilities to build, test, and predict the electrochemical and thermal performance of lithium ion batteries. Rigorous mechanistic models have been built to understand the performance of these batteries. We also have the capability to cut open the batteries and perform diagnostic tests to determine the capacity fade and the cause of failure of primary or secondary batteries.

Part of our research effort has to do with understanding the thermodynamics of lithium intercalation into composite materials as well as predicting the volume changes in the electrode due to intercalation/deintercalation of lithium.

Characterization of electrode materials is done by using a three-electrode setup. The kinetics, thermodynamics, and transport properties can be determined by using polarization techniques combined with mathematical modeling and modeling discrimination techniques.

• Solartron 1287 Electrochemical Interface with AC Impedance Capability