Battery Assembly Research Articles

Method of creation of power sources for home appliances under constraints of limited resources

The subject of study in this article is the voltage ranges, methods, and tools for prototyping independent sources of power supply and artificial lighting for home appliances with reuse of only widespread components. The goal is to improve the efficiency of the creation and use of independent power supply sources for home appliances. Task: to analyze the history of the development of voltage standards for households; analyze existing autonomous power sources and types of batteries; analyze different loads; find rational voltage ranges based on fundamental values; analyze charge control and balancing circuits for lithium-based batteries; propose the technique of prototyping independent sources of power supply based on reused lithium-ion (Li-ion) accumulators; provide an example of the practical application of the results of research. According to the tasks, the following results were obtained. The evolution of voltage standards of electrical supply networks is analyzed. Types of autonomous power supplies, including pure sine versions, are discussed. The analysis of batteries for autonomous power sources of different chemical compositions is performed. It is proposed to use the water analogy of current and area as an analogy of battery capacity for visual representation of electrical processes. Models of constant current consumption and constant power consumption are considered. It is proposed to reduce the internal resistance of the battery assembly by parallel connection of the reused lithium-ion accumulators. Correspondence of voltage ranges of sequential connection of lithium-ion cells to ensure compatibility with existing devices is investigated. Rational parameters of voltage ranges to ensure compatibility of lithium-ion and acid accumulators with the ability to charge directly from solar panels without a charge controller are found. Charge controllers, battery management systems (BMS), and battery balancing circuits are analyzed. A set of steps for reuse of lithium-ion accumulators for the creation of autonomous power sources is proposed. Conclusions. The main contribution of this research is the proposed method of creation of power supply and interior lighting based on the reuse of accumulators without additional components. The discovered and proposed magic numbers of 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13 for series connection of lithium-ion cells allows to obtain the equivalent of standard voltage ranges of 12 V, 19 V, 27 V, 36 V, 42 V and 48 V. The proposed technique of adjusting the voltage of the passive balancer allows adding 4.5 % to the capacity of the battery assembly. The described solutions allow to build the completely scalable autonomous low-voltage electrical supply network with the ability to charge directly from solar panels without expensive charge controllers.

Enhanced Energy Storage in Lithium-Metal Batteries via Polymer Electrolyte Polysulfide-Polyoxide Conetworks.

The present article entails a novel concept of storing extra energy in a multifunctional polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) beyond the storage capacity of a cathode, which is achieved by so-called "prelithiation" upon simply deep discharging to a low potential range of a lithium-metal electrode (i.e., -0.5 to 0.5 V). This unique extra energy-storage capacity has been realized recently in the PEM consisting of polysulfide-co-polyoxide conetworks in conjunction with succinonitrile and LiTFSI salt that facilitate complexation via ion-dipole interaction of dissociated lithium ions with thiols, disulfide, or ether oxygen of the conetwork. Although ion-dipole complexation may increase the cell resistance, the prelithiated PEM provides excess lithium ions during oxidation (or Li+ stripping) at the Li-metal electrode. Once the PEM network is fully saturated with Li ions, the remaining excess ions can move through the complexation sites at ease, thereby affording not only facile ion transport but also extra ion-storage capacity within the PEM conetwork. Of particular interest is that the lithiated polysulfide-co-polyoxide polymer network-based PEM exhibits a high conductivity of 1.18 × 10-3 S/cm at ambient, which can also store extra energy with a specific capacity of about 150 mAh/g at a 0.1C rate in the PEM voltage range of 0.01-3.5 V in addition to 165 mAh/g at 0.2C of an NMC622 (nickel manganese cobalt oxide) cathode (i.e., 2.5-4.6 V) with a Coulombic efficiency of approximate unity. Moreover, its Li-metal battery assembly with an NMC622 cathode exhibits a very high specific capacity of ∼260 mAh/g at 0.2C in the full battery range of 0.01-5 V, having a higher Li+ transference number of 0.74, suggestive of domination by the lithium cation transport relative to those (0.22-0.35) of organic liquid electrolyte lithium-ion batteries.

Carbon Nanofibers Coated with MOF-Derived Carbon Nanostructures for Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries with Enhanced Electrochemical Activity and Power Density

A unique synthetic approach has been introduced where nanostructurally grown zinc layered double hydroxide on graphitic carbon felt (CF) is converted into a zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8), and then, subsequent carbonization resulted in a N/O-functionalized porous carbon electrode (N,O/CF). Because of the presence of N/O-containing functional groups and deposition of ZIF-8-derived nanoporous carbon on the CF, the N,O/CF is found to be highly hydrophilic in nature with a large surface area. Cyclic voltammetry measurements with N,O/CF suggest the fast electrochemical kinetics of V(IV) ↔ V(V) reactions. Polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements of the vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) assembly illustrate the significant decrease in charge transfer resistance at electrode surfaces. At 50 mL/min electrolyte flow rate, N,O/CF delivers energy efficiencies of 83.11 and 76.66% at current densities of 40 and 80 mA/cm2, respectively. The values are 82.59 and 76.39%, respectively, at 100 mL/min, showing the negligible effect of the flow rate. The power density of VRFBs at various electrolyte flow rates is also presented, which increases with increasing flow rates and is higher for N,O/CF (∼821 mW/cm2) than for bare CF (606 mW/cm2). The stability test confirms the retention of energy, voltage, and coulombic efficiencies after recycling of the electrode. The above-mentioned findings of improved performance of VRFBs with employing the N,O/CF electrode are a cumulative effect of enhanced nanoporosity, an increased number of catalytic active sites, high wettability, and low charge transfer resistance.

Intelligent Assembly Method of the Profiled Thermal Battery Pack Based on Improved DE Algorithm

An intelligent assembly method was designed to realize the intelligent assembly of the profiled thermal battery pack and improve its assembly accuracy. Firstly, as the number and size of different monomer batteries vary, this paper takes the monomer thermal battery assembly as the object, with a common shape circle assembly screw arrangement and an established process model. Then, the assembly also has an improved differential evolution algorithm for assembly arrangement and process on the number, location, tightening of the screw assembly, torque, and the order of solutions. According to this scheme, the assembly and the flatness test were carried out. The results showed that the bottom plate of the assembly frame was “concave in the middle and warped around”, and the flatness error was large. The scheme was optimized by numerical simulation analysis. After optimization, the average offset of the floor plane was 0.04 mm, and the offset accounted for 0.028% of the overall height; the maximum offset was 0.094 mm and the offset was reduced by 0.312%.

A blockchain-enabled deep residual architecture for accountable, in-situ quality control in industry 4.0 with minimal latency

Real-time and vision-based quality control for industrial processes has drawn great interest from both scientists and practitioners, particularly following the transition to Zero Defect Manufacturing (ZDM) and Industry 4.0. Despite considerable progress, most ZDM approaches focus on the accuracy of the inspection process, often neglecting critical factors for application in the shop floor. On one hand, near real-time methods are needed for early defect detection and containment. On the other hand, data scarcity is an issue causing AI methods to overfit. Another concern is the accountability of AI results, since even if an AI pipeline is successfully deployed, its predictions are not verifiable in the long term. In this work, we explore a real-time solution based on lightweight Deep Residual Networks and Blockchain technology to address these issues. Concretely, we propose a two-phase training strategy to boost the performance of baseline classifiers while maintaining low inference times. The performance of the proposed methodology is presented in two different industrial use cases with strict timing requirements, one concerning battery assembly line and the other antenna manufacturing. We validate the proposed method for defect detection and compare the results with common training strategies demonstrating an improvement of 3% and 10% in F1-score and accuracy on the two cases respectively, while lowering inference time by 2.2× compared to existing light architectures. Contributing to the accountability of AI results, we present an IoT framework using Blockchain deployed in Private Ethereum.

In-Depth Evaluation of Ultrasonically Welded Al/Cu Joint: Plastic Deformation, Microstructural Evolution, and Correlation with Mechanical Properties.

Ultrasonic metal welding (USMW) is widely used in assembling lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery packs due to its advantages in joining dissimilar and conductive materials in the solid state. However, the welding process and mechanisms are not yet clearly understood. In this study, dissimilar joints of aluminum alloy EN AW 1050 to copper alloy EN CW 008A were welded by USMW to simulate the tab-to-bus bar interconnects for Li-ion battery assembly. Qualitative and quantitative investigations were carried out on plastic deformation, microstructural evolution, and the correlated mechanical properties. During USMW, the plastic deformation concentrated on the Al side. The thickness of Al was reduced by more than 30%; complex dynamic recrystallization and grain growth occurred near the weld interface. The mechanical performance of the Al/Cu joint was evaluated with the tensile shear test. The failure load gradually increased until a welding duration of 400 ms, and then remained almost constant. The obtained results showed that the mechanical properties were greatly influenced by plastic deformation and microstructure evolution, which provides guidance for improving the weld quality and the process in general.

Modeling and Simulation of Non-Aqueous Redox Flow Batteries: A Mini-Review

Redox flow batteries (RFBs) have been widely recognized in the domain of large-scale energy storage due to their simple structure, long lifetime, quick response, decoupling of capacity and power, and structural simplicity. Because of the limited open circuit voltage (OCV) by hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions, together with the relatively low solubility of active species, RFBs with aqueous electrolytes are challenging to reach high energy densities. Researchers have been trying to develop new solvent systems without water to remove the electrochemical window limitation of water and pursue higher cell potential. However, non-aqueous solvents are also hindered by some key problems, such as high viscosity and poor safety. Meeting these challenges require a comprehensive understanding of relevant structural design parameters and multi-variable operation in the non-aqueous flow battery (NAFB) system. Modeling and simulation are not only an effective way to understand the basic mechanism of flow batteries at different scales of size and time but also an ideal tool for optimizing the reaction process, battery assembly, and the whole flow battery installation. This review paper introduces the development of the non-aqueous flow battery, the challenges it faces, and the research progress of related modeling and simulation for verification or optimization. Finally, the future development prospects of the non-aqueous flow battery model are pointed out, especially for those systems and fields that have not yet been explored.

Multifunctional polymer electrolyte membrane networks for energy storage via ion-dipole complexation in lithium metal battery

A novel concept of energy storage is presented involving ion-dipole complexation within multifunctional polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM), consisting of polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) and succinonitrile (SCN) plasticizer and lithium bis-trifluoromethane sulfonyl imide (LiTFSI) salt. A similar complexation of lithium ions with ether oxygen and amine moieties occurs in the thermally cured poly(ethylene glycol) diglycidyl ether (PEGDGE) - polyether amine (Jeffamine D400, 2-arm) co-network. By virtue of the network functional groups, the ion transport is hindered which may be viewed as temporally holding of the Li ions, reminiscent of ion storage. Although some Li ions may be partially immobilized due to ion-dipole complexation, upon prelithiation via deep discharging the lithium metal/PEM/lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery assembly to the low potential range of 0.01–0.5 V (i.e., oxidation at the Li metal anode), excess mobile Li ions become available that can travel to the cathode through the Li+ saturated complexation sites at ease, exhibiting high ionic conductivity with energy storage capability within the PEM matrix. Another way of supplying Li ions to PEM is through diffusion driven by ion concentration gradient between the two-layer PEM composite composed of a high salt concentration layer and a no-salt layer. The CV measurement was carried out as a function of aging time on the bilayer composite in the PEM potential range of 0.01 to 2.5 V, which indeed revealed a systematic emergence of redox reaction peaks, thereby validating the energy storing concept of the multifunctional PEM network.

Interfacial regulation and protection by conductive graphene coating induces highly reversible zinc behavior for durable aqueous zinc-ion batteries

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) have the merits of high specific capacity, intrinsic safety, pro-environment, high abundance and facile battery assembly process. However, the metallic zinc anodes are troubled by uncontrolled growth of dendrite and unfavorable side reactions, resulting in inferior cycling durability and hindering its practical application. Herein, an effective strategy for regulating uniform electrochemical plating/stripping of zinc metal and alleviating side reactions via introducing a thin graphene coating on the metallic zinc substrate is provided. As expected, the achieved Zn@graphene electrode exhibited outstanding cyclic durability for over 4000 h with an extremely low voltage hysteresis (28 mV at 0.2 mA cm−2) and could withstand repeated plating/stripping process without significant voltage fluctuations for 480 cycles at ultra-high current density (10.0 mA cm−2). Furthermore, when switching between cycling and resting modes, the Zn@graphene electrode manifested highly reversible zinc behavior of 1500 cycles with remarkably stable voltage response, revealing the excellent anti-corrosion property and high reversibility. Comprehensive studies show that graphene coating could not terminate the dendrite formation and side reactions, but would guide uniform Zn-ion/electrolyte flux and homogenize electric field distribution to regulate the evenly electrochemical plating/stripping of zinc metal, and also serve as a protective barrier to reduce the risk of being pierced by the growing dendrite and randomly distributed by-products, thereby enhancing the electrochemical properties and improving the safety of aqueous ZIBs.

Rethinking lithium-ion battery management: Eliminating routine cell balancing enhances hazardous fault detection

Current battery management systems for lithium-ion battery packs incorporate circuitry and software to carry out routine voltage balancing of cells in order to optimise battery performance by preventing the state of charge of individual cells drifting apart over time. Drawing on evidence from previous published research, this paper reports experimental results testing the hypothesis that routine balancing can be successfully eliminated over a battery's lifetime. The test method requires that specified steps are taken to prepare the cells and that a novel charging protocol is employed thereafter to ensure the pack is fully charged while accommodating cell-to-cell variations in capacity, aging and dynamic response. Extensive cycle testing on a range of different battery configurations found no evidence of loss of balance and hence of reduction in lifetime battery performance compared to conventional battery management systems incorporating routine dissipative balancing. Importantly, the experiments also found that elimination of routine balancing greatly enhances the scope for early detection of low-level self-discharge caused by developing internal short circuits. Internal short circuits are implicated in occasional highly destructive spontaneous battery thermal runaway events which have hitherto proved very difficult to predict when using conventional cell voltage balancing systems. The described method of battery management thus offers significant potential, especially for applications where the risk of sudden battery fires cannot be tolerated. In addition, the absence of high voltage balancing wires may bring other benefits, including simplified battery assembly, safer maintenance and reduced risk of hazardous wiring faults.

Assessing Coulombic Efficiency in Lithium Metal Anodes

Although lithium metal and anode-free rechargeable batteries (LMBs and AFBs) are phenomenal energy storage systems, the formation of lithium deposits with high surfaces during repeated plating–stripping cycles has hindered their practical applications. Recently, extensive efforts have been made to prevent the growth of high-surface lithium deposition, e.g., electrolyte modification, artificial coating deposition, lithiophilic current collectors, composite lithium metal electrodes, etc. In most of these approaches, Coulombic efficiency (CE) has been used as a quantifiable indicator for the reversibility of the LMBs and AFBs. The interpretation and validation of research results, however, are challenging since the measurement of CE is affected by several parameters related to battery assembly and testing. This study aims to unveil the interplay of several potentially overlooked parameters regulating the CE, such as stripping cutoff voltage, electrolyte quantity, precycling to form a solid electrode interphase (SEI), and electrode surface modification, by applying two alternative electrochemical methods. The hidden aspects of nucleation overpotential revealed by studying these parameters, as well as their influence on the composition and stability of the SEI, are discussed. Overall, this work provides an insightful understanding of the methods and parameters used for assessing the performance of LMBs and AFBs.

Rapidly Constructing Sodium Fluoride-Rich Interface by Pressure and Diglyme-Induced Defluorination Reaction for Stable Sodium Metal Anode.

Sodium (Na) metal is able to directly use as a battery anode but have a highly reductive ability of unavoidably occurring side reactions with organic electrolytes, resulting in interfacial instability as a primary factor in performance decay. Therefore, building stable Na metal anode is of utmost significance for both identifying the electrochemical performance of laboratory half-cells employed for quantifying samples and securing the success of room-temperature Na metal batteries. In this work, weproposean NaF-rich interface rapidly prepared by pressure and diglyme-induced defluorination reaction for stable Na metal anode. Once the electrolyte is dropped into the coin-type cells followed by a slight squeeze, the Na metal surface immediately forms a protective layer consisting of amorphous carbon and NaF, effectively inhibiting the dendrite growth and dead Na. The resultant Na metal anode exhibits a long-term cycling lifespan over 1800 h even under the area capacity of 3.0 mAh cm-2 . Furthermore, such a universal and facile method is readily applied in daily battery assembly regarding Na metal anode.

Prospects of battery assembly for electric vehicles based on patent analysis

Abstract The ceiling of energy density of batteries in materials level motivates the innovation of cell, module and pack that constitute the battery assembly for electric vehicles (EVs). Patent analysis is a powerful means to inform technology life cycle and forecast upcoming innovations. To date, only a handful of research have quantitatively analysed and compared battery assembly in the EV field, resulting in a lack of information to discern the battery layout. Herein, battery patents are categorized into cell, module and pack levels, and are recorded with a function of timeline and technology life cycle to identify their development status. It indicates the maturity stage of the cell level while noting the growth stage of module and pack levels, which probably results from the intensive demand of large-size and high-quality batteries for EVs. Moreover, the global patent distribution reveals that China and Japan possess most patents among cell, module and pack levels, and that patent assignees are scattered in China, whereas concentrated in Japan and Korea. This work is expected to figure out the battery technology trends to construct energy-dense batteries in the EV field, as well as provide instructive information for decision-makers to lay out battery technologies in the future.

RENAULT Smart Cocoon Technology CAE

RENAULT was the first OEM to introduce mass production Battery Electric Vehicles in Europe with the ZOE in 2012. With the new Megane ETECH, RENAULT set the NVH comfort to higher level to match the customer expectations on BEV vehicles. One of the components that contributes to the silence of Megane is the "Smart Cocoon Technology". This innovative solution has been developed to transform the battery into an acoustically active element. An insulation foam has been embedded between the body floor and the battery casing in order to use the battery mass to improve the floor transparency and damping, and subsequently the Transmission Loss. To support further developments of this technology RENAULT and its CAE partners are developing a simulation methodology to achieve simultaneously three goals: predict the behavior of the smart cocoon technology on the whole vehicle NVH performance, optimize the performance and weight of the insulation package, and secure the assembly process. This paper presents in detail each step of this process. Non-linear simulations of the battery assembly process are used to capture the preloading effects in foam and body panels. The vehicle high frequencies NVH performance is then simulated for vehicle rolling conditions. In a last part of the paper, CAE results are compared with the test measurements on the Megane prototype.

Life Cycle Assessment of Electric Vehicle Batteries: Review and Critical Appraisal

The most environmentally damaging aspect of using electric vehicles is the batteries. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach has been widely used to conduct inventory analysis of energy usage and GHG emissions throughout battery production and assembly. There are many analytical frameworks and models for conducting LCA, but each method uses different results. This study aims to investigate numerous LCA studies on electric vehicle batteries using ISO 14040 and its derivatives. We propose the limits of a cradle-to-grave system so that LCA provides optimal results for comparative studies and potential for continuous improvement. A schematic overview of the electric car battery life cycle covers material extraction, material processing, product manufacture, product use, and end-of-life recovery measures. Global warming, eutrophication, acidification, ozone depletion, abiotic depletion, particulate matter, human toxicity, ecotoxicity, and Cumulated Energy Demand (CED) are all impact categories in LCA study.

Batérie druhej životnosti a systém správy batérií

As electromobility continues to advance, there is a growing production of batteries that will eventually require recycling. One potential recycling approach involves repurposing worn yet still operational batteries in energy storage systems, providing them with a renewed functionality. Every battery assembly mandates a Battery Management System (BMS) to ensure proper and secure functionality. In the case of recycled cells, the BMS system becomes more intricate due to notable disparities in wear and, consequently, in parameters among the cells. Hence, active balancing of each cell within the assembly becomes imperative in such a setup. Furthermore, enhanced safety precautions are essential for such assemblies. The entire system must be scalable and adaptable to different numbers and configurations of battery cells from electric vehicles of various manufacturers.

Digital twin design and analytics for scaling up electric vehicle battery production using robots

As electric vehicle adoption accelerates and demand increases, the inability to produce batteries in sufficient quantities has emerged as a critical bottleneck in the electric vehicle supply chain. Given the impending climate change crisis, resolving this bottleneck is imperative to accelerate the transition to a zero-emission electric mobility future. One potential solution is the use of robotics for fast and cost-effective assembly of batteries at scale. This study proposes a three-stage digital twin design and analysis method to develop robotic workcells for fast and cost-effective assembly of electric vehicle battery modules. Using digital twin design and simulation, robotic assembly line configurations have been developed for battery module production at different scales. Digital twin analytics was used to evaluate and optimise the proposed robotic battery assembly system for speed and cost. Industrial automation experts were consulted to further improve robotic work cell layouts to minimise investment in robots. Because digital twins of robotic workcells have been used, the configurations of the battery assembly line, as designed and validated, are ready for immediate implementation. For practitioners, this study offers heuristic methods to determine the appropriate assembly line configuration, the required number of robots and humans, for a desired production volume. For researchers, this study outlines promising areas for future investigation.

Electrolyte initiated instaneous in-situ chemical polymerization of organic cathodes for ultralong-cycling magnesium ion batteries

Redox-active organic compounds are promising electrode materials for rechargeable batteries owing to their diverse structures, light weight, resource recyclability and low cost, but the solubility and side reactions in electrolytes impede their practical applications. Herein, we report that pyrrole-based redox-active organic monomers can be instantly converted into π-conjugated polymer derivatives via a convenient and efficient in-situ chemical polymerization method during battery assembly without tedious fabrication procedures, which, in essence, is to use the electrolyte originally containing bis(hexamethyldisilazido)magnesium (Mg(HMDS)2) to induce the instantaneous in-situ polymerization of 2-pyrrolanthraquinone (2-PyAQ). Benefited from the intrinsic high ionic mobility and minimal electrolyte solubility of the redox-active π-conjugated polymer chains, the as-obtained poly(N-anthraquinoyl pyrrole) (PAQPy) cathode material exhibit high specific capacity, good rate performance and ultralong cycling stability over 4,000 cycles (with a capacity decay rate of only 0.00098% per cycle). Electrochemical kinetics analyses revealed a high Mg-ion diffusivity in the order of 10−11 cm2 s−1 and a high total capacity originated from both capacitive and diffusion-controlled contributions. A series of in-situ and ex-situ spectroscopic studies verified an extraordinary dual-ion storage mechanism based on both the insertion/extraction processes of Mg2+ and MgCl+ cations on anthraquinone side groups and the doping/de-doping processes of HMDS- anions on polypyrrole chains. This work demonstrates an effective and universal stabilization strategy of redox-active organic electrode materials via electrolyte initiated in-situ chemical polymerization to propel the exploration of high-performance secondary batteries.

An implementation of industrial IoT: a case study in lithium-ion battery pack and assembly

An implementation of industrial IoT: a case study in lithium-ion battery pack and assembly

Water-tolerant solid polymer electrolyte with high ion-conductivity for simplified battery manufacturing in air surroundings

The humidity-sensitive electrolytes necessitate the stringent conditions of lithium battery manufacturing and, thus, increase the fabrication complexity and cost. We herein report a water-tolerant solid polymer electrolyte (WT-SPE) with high Li+ conductivity (2.08 × 10−4 S cm−1 at room temperature) and electrochemically stable window (up to 4.7 V vs Li/Li+), which utilizes moisture to initiate rapid polymerization and form dense structures to achieve a facile battery manufacturing in humid air without the need of a glovebox. Molecular dynamics simulations attribute this hydrophobic behavior to the hindered transfer of a water molecule in dense WT-SPE. A stable SEI layer composed of a polymeric framework and other organic/inorganic small molecular compounds contributes to the sustainable operation of batteries. As a result, the Li|WT-SPE|LiCoO2 cells manufactured in the air exhibit a high initial capacity of 192 mA h g−1 at 0.1C and an excellent capacity retention for 300 cycles at 1C. The great advantage significantly simplifies the battery assembly process in air environment and can also maintain good interfacial contact between an electrolyte and electrodes thanks to in situ initiated polymerization, which shows great superiority and promise in the alternatives of traditional liquid and polymer electrolytes for low-cost and facile fabrication of batteries in ambient atmosphere.