Characterizing the mechanical behavior of lithium in compression

Next-generation batteries owe their energy increases to lithium anodes, whose mechanical properties, such as flow stress, are poorly understood and yet critical to the design of long life, stable electrodes. The purpose of this study was to determine the main sensitivities of lithium metal's compression flow stress as a function of aspect ratio (AR), strain rate (SR), and temperature. The flow stress at room temperature increased with a decreasing AR (1.86 MPa at the AR of 0.045 and the SR of 1 x 10(-3)) and increasing SR (1.39 MPa at 1.0 s(-1) SR and a base AR of 2). The impact of geometric size (AR) and SR was shown to be cumulative with a peak flow stress of 1.91 MPa at the AR of 0.23 and 1.0 s(-1) SR at room temperature. Additionally, as temperature increased, the flow stress significantly decreased (i.e., 0.21 MPa at 132 degrees C, T-H = 0.90 and base SR and AR) across all ARs.

Automated summary

This study aimed to determine the main sensitivities of lithium metal's compression flow stress as a function of aspect ratio, strain rate, and temperature. The results showed that the flow stress increased with decreasing aspect ratio and increasing strain rate at room temperature, while it significantly decreased with increasing temperature across all aspect ratios.