Extending battery lifetime by pulsed charging

Abstract Lithium-ion batteries are essential for enabling a carbon-neutral transport sector, with electric vehicles representing the most viable alternative to combustion engine vehicles. However, charging batteries rapidly without compromising durability remains a major challenge. This work investigates pulse charging as a strategy to mitigate durability losses while maintaining high charge rates. Battery cycling experiments were performed using various charge and discharge waveforms, with frequency and duty cycle systematically varied across specimen groups. A constant current protocol served as reference. The results show that capacity loss during constant current charging can be substantially reduced by employing pulsed waveforms. Specifically, a reduction of about 50% in capacity loss is observed when square-wave pulse charging at frequencies above 100 mHz is applied. Electrochemical analysis suggests that constant current charging accelerates ageing processes primarily on the negative electrode, likely linked to lithium plating and associated solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation. By contrast, pulse charging seems to alleviate these effects. Overall, the findings demonstrate that pulse charging can improve battery lifetime while sustaining charging rates, offering a promising pathway to enhance durability in lithium-ion batteries for transport applications.