A CA-LBM framework for simulating the lithium dendrite growth process

Abstract

The Lithium metal batteries with high energy density are limited for further commercial applications by the formation of Lithium dendrites, which is difficult to regulate due to its complex growth mechanism. In order to investigate the relationship between the dendritic morphology inside the electrode and the external operation conditions, a two-dimensional simulation framework based on the cellular automaton (CA) and the Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is proposed. In this framework, the simulation region is divided into discrete grids and each grid includes a cell to record the phase state and the concentration at the position. Meanwhile, the phase transition rule is set in the CA model and the concentration field is solved by LBM. Based on this framework, the impact of the applied voltage and the diffusion coefficient on the dendritic morphology is investigated. The simulation results indicate that the growth rate and the bifurcation rate of Lithium dendrites can both be reduced by applying lower operating voltage and higher diffusion coefficient which is critical in regulating the morphology of Lithium dendrites.