Targeting the low-temperature performance degradation of lithium-ion batteries: A non-destructive bidirectional pulse current heating framework

The poor low-temperature performance of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) significantly impedes the widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage systems (ESSs) in cold regions. In this paper, a non-destructive bidirectional pulse current (BPC) heating framework considering different BPC parameters is proposed. To determine the lithium plating boundary of graphite anode, a three-electrode battery is first fabricated. Then, an electro-thermal coupled model is established and the model parameters consider not only the effects of temperature and heating frequency but also the effect of current amplitude. Subsequently, a novel lithium plating criterion is derived based on the thermodynamic theory and the graphite anode model. Finally, leveraging the electro-thermal coupled model and considering the constraints of lithium plating and terminal voltage, the effects of different BPC heating parameters on battery heat generation are discussed and a novel BPC heating strategy is designed. The results show that the heat generation power is highest when the ratio of discharge time to charge time is 0.55. Additionally, the BPC heating strategy proposed in this paper is 45 s faster than the traditional BPC heating strategy when the battery is heated from -15 °C to 10 °C at 100 Hz. The heating rate of the new BPC strategy is 3.51 °C/min and there is no observed capacity degradation after 100 heating cycles. The BPC heating framework proposed in this paper effectively improves the low-temperature performance of the battery and contributes positively to the promotion of EVs and ESSs in cold regions.