Date of Graduation

5-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Mechanical Engineering

Advisor/Mentor

Meng, Xiangbo

Abstract

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are currently the best method to store electrical energy for use in portable electronics and electronic vehicles. New cathode materials for LIBs are consistently studied and researched, but few are as promising and attainable as nickel-rich transition metal oxides such as LiNi1-x-yMnxCoyO2 (NMC). NMC materials exist with many different mass ratios, but higher nickel content materials provide higher energy density. With this increase in capacity comes a sacrifice with cyclability, as high-nickel NMC variants are prone to structure collapse, transition metal dissolution, and cracks due to volume change. In this report, mechanical modification of the electrode by 3D printing is explored as a method to stabilize the cathode structure through optimization of lithiation paths and accommodation of volume change. 3D printed NMC 811 shows substantially higher capacity retention and structure health after cycling at low-rate testing compared with traditional doctor-bladed NMC 811, revealing a scalable and facile method of improving the cyclability of nickel-rich cathode material.

Keywords

Lithium Ion Batteries, 3D Printing, Printed Electrode, Cyclability

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