The present research focuses on developing optimal charging protocols that achieve 80% recharge in 10 min, while respecting Li-plating and chemo-mechanical stress limitations. This research directly corresponds to 1) increased battery life, 2) increased safety, and 3) fast recharge concerns.

During fast-charge, a well-studied failure mode is Li-plating at the anode. Li-plating is assumed to be thermodynamically favorable near 0 V with respect to Li metal [1]. Recently, several novel charging protocols have been proposed to reduce Li-plating intensity while still achieving fast-charge metrics [2, 1]. However, by only focusing on the anode, the cathode loss-of-active material (LAM) failure mode is typically neglected. The loss-of-active material in high-Ni LixNiyMnzCo1−y−zO2 cathodes can act as a “hidden” failure mode that results in rapid capacity fade late in life [3, 4].

The loss-of-active material is directly related to the chemo-mechanically induced stresses in the cathode secondary particles [3, 4]. Thus, novel fast-charge protocols must account for both Liplating constraints (early-life failure) and cathode-stress constraints (late-life failure). The present research uses a physically based pseudo-2D battery model to design optimal fastcharge protocols, while considering Li-plating and cathode-stress limits. The study includes analysis of trade-offs between realized fast-charge capacity gains and life-promoting constraints.