Post-Mortem Analysis of NMC/Graphite Pouch Cells with Exceptional Capacity Retention After up to 8 Years of Cycling

This study presents post-mortem analyses of NMC/graphite pouch cells, which exhibit exceptional capacity retention after up to 8 years or 22,000 charge-discharge cycles. Various NMC/graphite cells with different positive electrode compositions and particle morphologies were examined under a variety of cycling conditions, temperatures, C-rates, and upper cut-off voltages. The findings demonstrate that even after extended periods of continuous cycling, the NMC positive electrodes can maintain the integrity of their crystal structure with minimal transition metal dissolution. Additionally, there is minimal degradation of the electrolyte, and the artificial graphite (AG) negative electrode materials only show negligible changes. Ultimately, lithium loss at the negative electrode is the only notable aging mode in these cells. Furthermore, with optimized electrolytes and high-quality artificial graphite, this parasitic reaction occurs at a low rate. As a result, lithium-ion cells can achieve remarkably long lifetimes. For example, a single-crystal NMC532/AG cell studied in this research retained 80% of its capacity, positive electrode crystal structure, and morphology, with minimal changes to the electrolyte after 6.8 years of continuous charge-discharge cycling.