Intercalation driven porosity effects in coupled continuum models for the electrical, chemical, thermal and mechanical response of battery electrode materials

Abstract: We present a coupled continuum formulation for the electrostatic, chemical, thermal and mechanical processes in battery materials. Our treatment applies on the macroscopic scale, at which electrodes can be modelled as porous materials made up of active particles held together by binders and perfused by the electrolyte. Starting with the description common to the field, in terms of reaction-transport partial differential equations for ions, variants of the classical Poisson equation for electrostatics, and the heat equation, we add mechanics to the problem. Our main contribution is to model the evolution of porosity as a consequence of strains induced by intercalation, thermal expansion and mechanical stresses. Recognizing the potential for large local deformations, we have settled on the finite strain framework. We present a detailed computational study of the influence of the dynamically evolving porosity, upon ion distribution, electrostatic potential fields, charge-discharge cycles and mechanical force generated in the cell.