Project
PaA-2
Modeling Battery Electrodes with Mechanical Interactions and Multiple Phase Transitions upon Ion Insertion
Project Heads
Manuel Landstorfer, Matthias Liero
Project Members
Tom Dörffel (1/2024–11/2024), Christoph Pohl (12/2024–12/2025)
Project Duration
01.01.2024 − 31.12.2025
Located at
WIAS
Description
Lithium-Ion-Batteries (LIBs), and also future successors like Sodium-based batteries, are composed of porous intercalation electrodes that can store Li (or Na) within their crystallographic structure. This intercalation process is driven by electrochemical reactions, Li+ + e- ⇔ Li, where the electro-neutral reaction product Li is stored in the host electrode, for instance graphite as anode material. Two phenomena can occur within host materials upon intercalation:
- volume changes and subsequent mechanical stresses, and
- phase separation into homogeneous segments within or among electrode particles.
Both effects impact the cell voltage, which is inherently a function of the amount of Li stored in active material, i.e., the status of charge y ∈ (0,1). Accounting for these effects in a model framework for a porous intercalation electrodes is crucial for our understanding of functionality, safety, and lifetime of battery cells.
The aim of this project is to derive PDE-based models for battery electrodes, which are subject to mechanical deformation as well as phase separation upon ion intercalation.
Three main aspects are considered:
- the electro-chemo-mechanical modeling of a non-phase separating single particle,
- the modeling of an N-phase single particle,
- the homogenization of porous electrodes with combined mechanical interactions and phase separation.
Accompanying numerical simulations will be carried out to investigate the behavior of the derived models in comparison to real electrode materials.
Project highlights
A thermodynamically consistent multiscale half-cell battery model was derived that extends DFN theory with multi-well free energies, allowing phase separation and multiple phase transitions in porous electrodes. Its coupled 3D+3D micro–macro structure captures memory effects and voltage time lags beyond classical single-scale models. Models for the consistent coupling of mechanics and intercalation processes in battery electrodes were derived. Existence of weak solutions for an evolutionary, coupled finite-strain model was established.
Related Publications
- M. Heida, M. Landstorfer, and M. Liero. Homogenization of a porous intercalation electrode with phase separation. to appear in SIAM Multiscale Modeling \& Simulation, Weierstrass Institute Berlin Preprint 2905, 2021. doi:10.20347/WIAS.PREPRINT.2905
- W.J. M. van Oosterhout and Matthias Liero. Finite-strain poro-visco-elasticity with degenerate mobility. ZAMM – Journal of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, 104(5):e202300486, 2024. doi:10.1002/zamm.202300486.
- M. Heida and Manuel Landstorfer. Modeling of porous battery electrodes with multiple phase transitions – Part I: Modeling and homogenization. Preprint: Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2025. doi:10.20347/WIAS.PREPRINT.3251.
- M. Landstorfer, Ch. Pohl, F. Brosa Planella, and K. Manmi. A model for SEI-growth based on non-equilibrium thermodynamics. Accepted in Electrochimica Acta (Preprint: Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik ), 2025. doi:10.20347/WIAS.PREPRINT.3250.
- W. J. M. van Oosterhout and M. Liero. Modeling and analysis of finite-strain visco-elastic materials with electrostatic interaction. Preprint: Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 3237, 2025. doi:10.20347/WIAS.PREPRINT.3237.
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