Designing electrode architectures to facilitate electrolyte infiltration for lithium-ion batteries

The electrolyte infiltration is a critical step in the Lithium-ion battery (LIB) cell manufacturing process, impacting for instance the solid electrolyte interphase heterogeneity and the cell ageing. The electrolyte infiltration rate and effectivity are tied to the porous mesostructure and dimensions of the electrodes and the separator, which are mainly dictated by electrochemical performance requirements. We propose here the use of architectures with layers of varying pore network properties as a potential approach to tune the wettability of the cell sandwich. We perform infiltration simulations based on the Lattice Boltzmann Method to analyse the electrolyte saturation as a function of time. This descriptor can be used to evaluate different options for cell architectures. We identify porosity, porosity distribution, and particle size distribution of the active material as main experimental variables that allow influencing the electrolyte infiltration process for full cells in an advantageous way. Our modelling framework allows the recommendation of blueprints that reduce the time and energy invested in this critical step of LIB manufacturing.