Impact of Graphite Materials on the Consumption of Prop-1-ene-1,3-Sultone and Vinylene Carbonate in Lithium-Ion Batteries

The consumption of two common Li-ion battery electrolyte additives—prop-1-ene-1,3-sultone (PES) and vinylene carbonate (VC)—was investigated in Li[Ni 0.8 Mn 0.1 Co 0.1 ]O 2 /graphite and Li[Ni 0.83 Mn 0.06 Co 0.11 ]O 2 /graphite cells during formation. Graphite negative electrode materials from four different vendors and nine additive combinations were used to measure the effect of different graphite materials on additive consumption. Interesting correlations between additive consumption and formation metrics were found. However, no clear correlations between the physical properties of the graphites used (that we were able to measure) and the formation metrics could be established. This suggests that well-optimized graphite negative electrode materials may have very similar physical properties. Alternatively, it indicates that other physical properties, beyond the commonly measured factors like surface area, tap density, and particle size, should be evaluated to better predict cell performance or the rate of additive consumption in NMC/graphite cells.