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Operando decoding of chemical and thermal events in commercial Na(Li)-ion cells via optical sensors

Nature Energy volume 5, pages 674–683 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

Monitoring the dynamic chemical and thermal state of a cell during operation is crucial to making meaningful advancements in battery technology as safety and reliability cannot be compromised. Here we demonstrate the feasibility of incorporating optical fibre Bragg grating sensors into commercial 18650 cells. By adjusting fibre morphologies, wavelength changes associated with both temperature and pressure are decoupled with high accuracy, which allows tracking of chemical events such as solid electrolyte interphase formation and structural evolution. We also demonstrate how multiple sensors are used to determine the heat generated by the cell without resorting to microcalorimetry. Unlike with conventional isothermal calorimetry, the cell’s heat capacity contribution is readily assessed, allowing for full parametrization of the thermal model. Collectively, these findings offer a scalable solution for screening electrolyte additives, rapidly identifying the best formation processes of commercial cells and designing battery thermal management systems with enhanced safety.

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Fig. 1: Concept of optical fibre sensing inside the battery.
Fig. 2: Probing temperature and pressure dynamics inside batteries and its implications on the SEI.
Fig. 3: Methodology of the optical sensing calorimetry and its benchmark with isothermal calorimetry.
Fig. 4: Enthalpy potentials.
Fig. 5: Decomposing the heat contributions at 1C.
Fig. 6: Quantifying the SEI formation.

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All relevant data are included in the paper and its Supplementary Information.

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Acknowledgements

J.-M.T. J.H. and L.A.B. acknowledge funding from the European Research Council (ERC) (FP/2014)/ERC Grant-Project 670116-ARPEMA and DIM RESPORE. J.B., S.T.B. and H.-Y.T. acknowledge funding from the General Research Fund Project (152087/18E) and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (1-ZVGB). J.R.D. and E.R.L. thank the auspices of the NSERC/Tesla Canada IRC programme. E.R.L. thanks NSERC and The Nova Scotia Graduate Scholarship programme for scholarship support. We thank L. Htein from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University for his assistance in fabricating the microstructured optical fibres, and F. Rabuel and T. Lombard for preparing the NMC(111)/C 18650 cells. We thank TIAMAT for providing the NVPF/HC 18650 cells as well as Faurecia for supporting part of this work and IDIL for providing part of the FBG sensors. Finally, we gladly thank G. Assat, G. Yan, C. Cometto, B. Li and S. Mariyappan for extensive and valuable discussions and comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Collège de France, Chimie du Solide et de l’Energie—UMR 8260 CNRS, Paris, France

    Jiaqiang Huang, Laura Albero Blanquer, Daniel Alves Dalla Corte & Jean-Marie Tarascon

  2. Réseau sur le Stockage Electrochimique de l’Energie (RS2E)—FR CNRS 3459, Amiens, France

    Jiaqiang Huang, Laura Albero Blanquer, Daniel Alves Dalla Corte & Jean-Marie Tarascon

  3. Sorbonne Université–UPMC Paris 06, Paris, France

    Laura Albero Blanquer & Jean-Marie Tarascon

  4. Photonics Research Centre, Department of Electrical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China

    Julien Bonefacino, Steven T. Boles & Hwa-Yaw Tam

  5. Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    E. R. Logan & J. R. Dahn

  6. Laboratoire de Réactivité et Chimie des Solides, LRCS, CNRS UMR 7314, UPJV, Amiens, France

    Charles Delacourt

  7. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Betar M. Gallant

  8. Department of Chemistry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    J. R. Dahn

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  1. Jiaqiang Huang
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Contributions

J.H., L.A.B. and J.-M.T. conceived the idea and designed the experiments with the help of D.A.D.C. for building the experimental set-up. J.H. performed the electrochemical, optical tests and the data analysis. J.B., S.T.B. and H.-Y.T. prepared the MOF-FBGs. E.R.L. and J.R.D. performed the isothermal calorimetry experiments. J.H. and C.D. performed the thermodynamics analysis with the help of B.M.G. Finally, J.-M.T., J.H. and L.A.B. wrote the paper, with contributions from all authors.

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Correspondence to Jean-Marie Tarascon.

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Supplementary Figs. 1–19, Notes 1 and 2, and references

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Huang, J., Albero Blanquer, L., Bonefacino, J. et al. Operando decoding of chemical and thermal events in commercial Na(Li)-ion cells via optical sensors. Nat Energy 5, 674–683 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-020-0665-y

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