Diffusion-Induced Stress in Commercial Graphite Electrodes during Multiple Cycles Measured by an In Situ Method

The cyclic stress evolution induced by repeated volume variation causes mechanical degradation and damage to electrodes, resulting in reduced performance and lifetime of LIBs. To probe the electro-chemo-mechanical coupled degradation, we conducted in situ measurements of Young’s modulus and stress evolution of commercial used graphite electrodes during multiple cycles. A bilayer graphite electrode cantilever is cycled galvanostatically in a custom cell, while the bending deformation of the bilayer electrode is captured by a CCD optical system. Combined with a mechanical model, Li-concentration-dependent elastic modulus and stress are derived from the curvature of the cantilever electrode. The results show that modulus, stress and strain all increase with the lithium concentration, and the stress transforms from compression to tension in the thickness direction. During multiple cycles, the modulus decreases with an increase in the cycle number at the same concentration. The maximum stress/strain of each cycle is maintained at almost same level, exhibiting a threshold that results from the co-interaction of concentration and damage. These findings provide basic information for modeling the degradation of LIBs.