Li-Ion Cell in Operando Monitoring and Prognostication Using CMUT Devices

Abstract

Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) devices are ideal solutions for in operando battery monitoring applications especially for consumer electronics. Their minute size (2mm x 1mm x 0.5mm) allows direct placement on the battery without affecting the form factor of the device, the volume production techniques used for their manufacture allow for a very low-cost device, and they can be easily integrated with front-end integrated circuits either in a single device or in a discrete multichip form. Together with industry partners we have developed CMUT devices that we use to continuously monitor the behavior of a battery while it is cycling.For this work we used CMUTs (close-up shown in Fig. 1(a)) developed to operate with a low bias voltage (less than 30 V) which reduces the complexity of the driving hardware. The impulse response and its frequency content are shown in Fig. 1(b). In collapse mode, the peak frequency is 4.0 MHz and the one-way –3 dB BW is 76%, which allows flexibility in setting the drive conditions to interrogate the battery. Our testing also shows that the CMUTs show good device-to-device uniformity and they have a very stable performance in variable temperature environments (e.g. 0℃ - 60℃ ).The cell is interrogated in pulse-echo mode. The CMUT is excited by a wide-band unipolar pulse and the returned analog signal is filtered and amplified. The signal is then digitized and processed to extract features that allow us to quantify the state of the battery. Figure 1(c) depicts such signal features change under baseline cell cycling conditions (three cycles at a charge rate of C/4). These changes are the result of mechanical material property changes in the cell e.g., electrode stiffness and density [1] which directly affect the acoustic wave propagation inside the cell. Figure 1(d) depicts signal feature change due cell overcharge (red line). Ultrasound is especially sensitive to gas generation which occurs as the cell voltage extends beyond normal operating range [2]. Signal features provide early warning notice that cell is outside of normal operating conditions.Figure 1. a) Close-up image of CMUT device. b) CMUT impulse response and corresponding frequency content. c) Signal features (RMS and Time of Flight (ToF)) and thickness change during C/4 charge and discharge. d) Signal features during cell constant current overcharge. Cell overcharged after 4.4V (red line). Chang, W. et al. Measuring effective stiffness of Li-ion batteries via acoustic signal processing. Mater. Chem. A 8, 16624–16635 (2020).Appleberry, M. C. et al. Avoiding thermal runaway in lithium-ion batteries using ultrasound detection of early failure mechanisms. Journal of Power Sources 535, 231423 (2022). Figure 1