Comprehensive characterization and simulation-based performance evaluation based on e-aviation application of a cylindrical high-energy Li-Ion cell

To meet the climate targets specified in the Paris Agreement 2015, the decarbonization of mobility is essential and is a major challenge of today’s society. The transition of the automotive industry to battery-powered electro-mobility is already in progress and is economically feasible. To enable sustainable air transport, several types of energy carriers are being researched and are under development by companies, including batteries, hydrogen and e-fuels. This paper investigates experimentally and with the help of a simulation-based case study if current high-energy lithium-ion cells meet the requirements to electrify intercity flights. For this purpose, the Samsung 50S INR21700 was selected and its performance was investigated under application-oriented operating conditions. For characterization cells were disassembled, electrode materials were extracted and physical, chemical, electrochemical and mechanical analyzing techniques were conducted on electrode and full cell levels. In addition to the detailed analysis of fresh cells, lifetime tests were carried out to evaluate the degradation behavior under application-related loads. To investigate the dependency of aging rate on silicon usage, also full cycles using the full energy content of the cells were conducted. Finally, the maximum range over the entire service life was predicted using a battery model, under the premise of ensuring a safe landing under the legal regulations of remaining residual energy and power at all times. This paper provides novel insights regarding cell design, characterization techniques, electrode expansion over lithiation, degradation behavior under various conditions including phenomenological analyzes and a model framework to predict remaining power capability. Furthermore, an analytical hysteresis model approach is presented. The aging study revealed significant influence of the Depth of Discharge (DoD), with accelerated degradation of cells cycled with full DoD (SoH ≤ 0.75 after 300 full cycles) and elevated lifespan with reduced DoD (SoH = 0.82 after 1.500 full cycles). This difference can be mainly attributed to silicon expansion at low State of Charge causing mechanical stress and particle cracking.