Diffusion aspects of lithium intercalation as applied to the development of electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries

The creation of new electrode materials and the modification of existing ones are important trends in the development of lithium-ion batteries. Of special significance is to evaluate their diffusivity, i.e., the ability of providing transfer of the electroactive component. Such electrochemical techniques as cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, potentiostatic intermittent titration technique, and galvanostatic intermittent titration technique are used for this purpose. The values of chemical diffusion coefficient D estimated in similar electrode materials are shown to scatter by several orders of magnitude. Principal causes of this rather considerable scattering are discussed, including the uncertainty of diffusion area estimations and the use of various approaches to deriving equations to calculate D. Our conclusions are illustrated by examples of D estimations in the electrode materials LixC6, LixSn, LixTiO2, LixWO3, LiMyMn2−yO4, and LiFePO4.