Electrochemical Behaviors of Graphite/LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 Cells during Overdischarge

As the use of lithium-ion secondary batteries is rapidly increasing due to the rapid growth of the electric vehicle market, the disposal and recycling of spent batteries after use has been raised as a serious problem. Since stored energy must be removed in order to recycle the spent batteries, an effective discharging process is required. In this study, graphite and NCM622 were used as active materials to manufacture coin-type half cells and full cells, and the electrochemical behavior occurring during overdischarge was analyzed. When the positive and negative electrodes are overdischarged respectively using a half-cell, a conversion reaction in which transition metal oxide is reduced to metal occurs first in the positive electrode, and a side reaction in which Cu, the current collector, is corroded following decomposition of the SEI film occurs in the negative electrode. In addition, a side reaction during overdischarge is difficult to occur because a large polarization at the initial stage is required. When the full cell is overdischarged, the cell reaches 0 V and the overdischarge ends with almost no side reaction due to this large polarization. However, if the full cell whose capacity is degraded due to the cycle is overdischarged, corrosion of the Cu current collector occurs in the negative electrode. Therefore, cycled cell requires an appropriate treatment process because its electrochemical behavior during overdischarge is different from that of a fresh cell.