Phase field modelling of cracking and capacity fade in core-shell cathode particles for lithium-ion batteries

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Tu, Y., Wu, B., Martínez-Pañeda, E.
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2025
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author Tu, Y.
Wu, B.
Martínez-Pañeda, E.
author_facet Tu, Y.
Wu, B.
Martínez-Pañeda, E.
contents Core-shell electrode particles are a promising morphology control strategy for high-performance lithium-ion batteries. However, experimental observations reveal that these structures remain prone to mechanical failure, with shell fractures and core-shell debonding occurring after a single charge. In this work, we present a novel, comprehensive computational framework to predict and gain insight into the failure of core-shell morphologies and the associated degradation in battery performance. The fully coupled chemo-mechano-damage model presented captures the interplay between mechanical damage and electrochemical behaviours, enabling the quantification of particle cracking and capacity fade. Both bulk material fracture and interface debonding are captured by utilising the phase field method. We quantify the severity of particle cracking and capacity loss through case studies on a representative core-shell system (NMC811@NMC532). The results bring valuable insights into cracking patterns, underlying mechanisms, and their impact on capacity loss. Surface cracks are found to initiate when a significantly higher lithium concentration accumulates in the core compared to the shell. Interfacial debonding is shown to arise from localised hoop stresses near the core-shell interface, due to greater shell expansion. This debonding develops rapidly, impedes lithium-ion transport, and can lead to more than 10\% capacity loss after a single discharge. Furthermore, larger particles may experience crack branching driven by extensive tensile zones, potentially fragmenting the entire particle. The framework developed can not only bring new insight into the degradation mechanisms of core-shell particles but also be used to design electrode materials with improved performance and extended lifetime.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_10355
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Phase field modelling of cracking and capacity fade in core-shell cathode particles for lithium-ion batteries
Tu, Y.
Wu, B.
Martínez-Pañeda, E.
Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science
Materials Science
Applied Physics
Chemical Physics
Core-shell electrode particles are a promising morphology control strategy for high-performance lithium-ion batteries. However, experimental observations reveal that these structures remain prone to mechanical failure, with shell fractures and core-shell debonding occurring after a single charge. In this work, we present a novel, comprehensive computational framework to predict and gain insight into the failure of core-shell morphologies and the associated degradation in battery performance. The fully coupled chemo-mechano-damage model presented captures the interplay between mechanical damage and electrochemical behaviours, enabling the quantification of particle cracking and capacity fade. Both bulk material fracture and interface debonding are captured by utilising the phase field method. We quantify the severity of particle cracking and capacity loss through case studies on a representative core-shell system (NMC811@NMC532). The results bring valuable insights into cracking patterns, underlying mechanisms, and their impact on capacity loss. Surface cracks are found to initiate when a significantly higher lithium concentration accumulates in the core compared to the shell. Interfacial debonding is shown to arise from localised hoop stresses near the core-shell interface, due to greater shell expansion. This debonding develops rapidly, impedes lithium-ion transport, and can lead to more than 10\% capacity loss after a single discharge. Furthermore, larger particles may experience crack branching driven by extensive tensile zones, potentially fragmenting the entire particle. The framework developed can not only bring new insight into the degradation mechanisms of core-shell particles but also be used to design electrode materials with improved performance and extended lifetime.
title Phase field modelling of cracking and capacity fade in core-shell cathode particles for lithium-ion batteries
topic Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science
Materials Science
Applied Physics
Chemical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.10355