Three-electrode Coin Cell Preparation and Electrodeposition Analytics for Lithium-ion Batteries

As lithium-ion batteries find use in high energy and power applications, such as in electric and hybrid-electric vehicles, monitoring the degradation and subsequent safety issues becomes increasingly important. In a Li-ion cell setup, the voltage measurement across the positive and negative terminals inherently includes the effect of the cathode and anode which are coupled and sum to the total cell performance. Accordingly, the ability to monitor the degradation aspects associated with a specific electrode is extremely difficult because the electrodes are fundamentally coupled. A three-electrode setup can overcome this problem. By introducing a third (reference) electrode, the influence of each electrode can be decoupled, and the electrochemical properties can be measured independently. The reference electrode (RE) must have a stable potential that can then be calibrated against a known reference, for example, lithium metal. The three-electrode cell can be used to run electrochemical tests such as cycling, cyclic voltammetry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Three-electrode cell EIS measurements can elucidate the contribution of individual electrode impedance to the full cell. In addition, monitoring the anode potential allows the detection of electrodeposition due to lithium plating, which can cause safety concerns. This is especially important for the fast charging of Li-ion batteries in electric vehicles. In order to monitor and characterize the safety and degradation aspects of an electrochemical cell, a three-electrode setup can prove invaluable. This paper aims to provide a guide to constructing a three-electrode coin cell setup using the 2032-coin cell architecture, which is easy to produce, reliable, and cost-effective.