Reactive Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Lithium Secondary Batteries - Interfaces and Electrodes
[Thesis]
Md Mahbubul Islam
Duin, Adri C. T. van
The Pennsylvania State University
2016
139
Committee members: Fathy, Hosam; Jensen, Lasse; Wang, Donghai; van Duin, Adri C. T.
Place of publication: United States, Ann Arbor; ISBN=978-1-392-03931-1
Ph.D.
Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering
The Pennsylvania State University
2016
Over the last two decades, lithium-based batteries have revolutionized the energy storage technologies. Li-ion batteries have found widespread use in portable electronics and electric vehicle applications. However, a detailed understanding of the battery chemistry, especially the formation of a solid electrolyte interphase-a thin passivation layer which is generated during the first charge cycle due to the reduction of electrolytes-is still elusive. The mass scale commercialization of electric vehicles requires the storage capacity beyond the conventional Li-ion batteries, which spurred research interests towards Li-S technologies. Li-S batteries are attractive for their very high capacity and energy density, but their commercial application has been thwarted due to several critical limitations stemming from electrolyte dissociation chemistry and electrode material properties. To investigate the current issues associated with the Li-ion and Li-S batteries and to find possible countermeasures, we used both a newly developed computational tool eReaxFF and the standard ReaxFF reactive molecular dynamics simulations in the following research areas: