The effects of electrode thickness on the electrochemical and thermal characteristics of lithium ion battery

•A coupling model is developed to study the behaviors of Li-ion batteries.•Thick electrode battery (CEB) has high temperature response during discharge.•Thin electrode battery has a relative lower capacity fading rate.•Less heat is generated in thin electrode battery with even heat distribution.•CEBs underutilize active materials and stop discharge early at high rates. Lithium ion (Li-ion) battery, consisting of multiple electrochemical cells, is a complex system whose high electrochemical and thermal stability is often critical to the well-being and functional capabilities of electric devices. Considering any change in the specifications may significantly affect the overall performance and life of a battery, an investigation on the impacts of electrode thickness on the electrochemical and thermal properties of lithium-ion battery cells based on experiments and a coupling model composed of a 1D electrochemical model and a 3D thermal model is conducted in this work. In-depth analyses on the basis of the experimental and simulated results are carried out for one cell of different depths of discharge as well as for a set of cells with different electrode thicknesses. Pertinent results have demonstrated that the electrode thickness can significantly influence the battery from many key aspects such as energy density, temperature response, capacity fading rate, overall heat generation, distribution and proportion of heat sources.