In-situ Strain Field Measurement and Mechano-electro-chemical Analysis of Graphite Electrodes Via Fluorescence Digital Image Correlation

Background

Mechano-electro-chemical coupling during the ion diffusion process is a core factor to determine the electrochemical performance of electrodes. However, relationship between the mechanics and the electrochemistry has not been clarified by experiments.

Objective

In this work, we conduct an in situ, visual, comprehensive characterization of strain field and Li concentration distribution to further explore the mechano-electro-chemical relationship.

Methods

The digital image correlation characterized by fluorescent speckle and active optical imaging is developed. Combined with electrochromic-based Li concentration detection, the spatiotemporal evolution of in-plane strain and Li concentration of a graphite electrode during the lithiation and delithiation processes are measured and displayed visually via a dual optical path acquisition system.

Results

The visual results show that in-plane strain and Li concentration possess a spatially non-uniform gradient distribution along the radial direction (i.e., diffusion path) with large values outside and small values inside, and that both present obvious temporal segmentation. And mechano-electro-chemical coupling analysis reveals that the in-plane strain is not always linearly related to the concentration and infers that a high strain limits the diffusion and lithiation. The strain–concentration evolution exhibits obvious asymmetric differences between lithiation and delithiation, wherein three equations are fitted to approximately represent the evolution process between in-plane strain and concentration during the lithiation and delithiation processes

Conclusions

This work overcomes the difficulties of fine strain measurements and collaborative concentration characterization during the electrochemical process, and provides an effective experimental method and data support for further exploration of mechano-electro-chemical coupling.