Catalyzing Battery Materials Research via Lab‐Made, Sub‐Ampere‐Hour‐Scale Pouch Cells, and Long‐Term Electrochemical Monitoring by a Reparable Reference Electrode

Abstract

AbstractBattery materials research is of crucial importance to the development of next‐generation batteries. However, the transition from lab‐scale studies, typically in gram quantities, to industrially relevant ones (i.e., kilogram scale) has been holding back by challenges in scale‐up synthesis and a lack of reliable approaches to verify the electrochemical performance of the lab‐made materials. Here the design and assembly procedures of sub‐Ah‐scale pouch cells that provide validations of several lab‐made Li‐ion and Na‐ion cathode materials available in a limited quantity (<5 g) are reported. These lab‐made pouch cells show superior cycle stability and consistency over the widely used coin cells, exemplified by multiple Ni‐rich layered oxide‐graphite full batteries retaining 84.29 ± 0.16% of the initial capacities over 1000 cycles. A four‐electrode pouch cell with a reparable reference electrode is further designed to monitor impedance growth and Li plating during long‐term electrochemical tests. It can be further integrated with in situ ultrasonic imaging to enable multi‐modal studies. This work provides a powerful platform to evaluate and boost the technology readiness levels of laboratory‐discovered battery materials.