Probing lithiation and delithiation of thick sintered lithium-ion battery electrodes with neutron imaging

As lithium-on (Li-ion) batteries increase in their prevalence and the range of applications expands, there is a need to understand and exploit the limits of electrochemical performance. Probing the internal processes in Li-ion batteries provides insights into the electrochemical characteristics of the cells as well as information necessary for rational cell design. In this manuscript an in situ method, neutron imaging, is applied to Li-ion full cells to track the lithiation/delithiation processes in the electrodes during discharge. The electrodes comprise thick sintered films of only active material, which improves the number of discrete points that are mapped for net changes in neutron intensity through the electrode. The lithiation/delithiation processes are qualitatively consistent with calculations of the Li⁺ concentration and discharge profiles of the cells. These results illustrate that neutron imaging can experimentally probe and confirm limitations in the electrochemical performance of Li-ion full cells, particularly those with thick electrodes.