Electrode Utilization in a Large Format Lithium-Ion Battery Pouch Cell

Application ID: 60291


Large lithium-ion batteries are widely deployed in electric vehicles and for stationary energy storage applications. In the (stacked) pouch battery cell design, all current exits the cell on the cell "tabs", and as the cell size and power increase, the voltage gradients in the highly conductive metal foil current collectors may come into play, resulting in a nonuniform current distribution and electrode utilization in the cell.

A nonuniform utilization results in suboptimal use of the battery electrodes and may also result in nonuniform and accelerated electrode aging.

This tutorial model shows the current distribution and electrode utilization in a large-format lithium-ion battery pouch cell and how it depends on the cell current. The model is in 3D.

This model example illustrates applications of this type that would nominally be built using the following products: