Trade‐off between energy density and fast‐charge capability of lithium‐ion batteries: A model‐based design study of cells with thick electrodes

Lithium‐ion batteries exhibit a well‐known trade‐off between energy and power, which is problematic for electric vehicles which require both high energy during discharge (high driving range) and high power during charge (fast‐charge capability). We use two commercial lithium‐ion cells (high‐energy [HE] and high‐power) to parameterize and validate physicochemical pseudo‐two‐dimensional models. In a systematic virtual design study, we vary electrode thicknesses, cell temperature, and the type of charging protocol. We are able to show that low anode potentials during charge, inducing lithium plating and cell aging, can be effectively avoided either by using high temperatures or by using a constant‐current/constant‐potential/constant‐voltage charge protocol which includes a constant anode potential phase. We introduce and quantify a specific charging power as the ratio of discharged energy (at slow discharge) and required charging time (at a fast charge). This value is shown to exhibit a distinct optimum with respect to electrode thickness. At 35°C, the optimum was achieved using an HE electrode design, yielding 23.8 Wh/(min L) volumetric charging power at 15.2 min charging time (10% to 80% state of charge) and 517 Wh/L discharge energy density. By analyzing the various overpotential contributions, we were able to show that electrolyte transport losses are dominantly responsible for the insufficient charge and discharge performance of cells with very thick electrodes.