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Nonlinear electrochemical impedance spectroscopy of lithium-ion batteries: Experimental approach, analysis, and initial findings
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Description: Nonlinear electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (NLEIS) is a moderate-amplitude extension to linear EIS that provides a sensitive and complementary whole-battery diagnostic for charge transfer kinetics, mass transport, and thermodynamics. We present the first full-frequency, second harmonic NLEIS spectra for lithium-ion batteries using commercially available, 1.5 Ah LiNMC|C cells. The mathematical framework for NLEIS shows, and experiments confirm, that moderate-amplitude input modulations can generate a second harmonic output that does not intrinsically corrupt the linear EIS response. Experimental measurements at varied states-of-charge (SoC) and states-of-health (SoH) are used to illustrate and compare NLEIS and EIS data. At low frequencies, the second harmonic NLEIS spectrum is shown to produce a much more distinct response to SoC dependent thermodynamic and diffusion processes than linear EIS. By combining NLEIS and EIS, we are able to characterize degradation in early cell cycling (where cells lost less than 1% of initial capacity). We also show that NLEIS complements the characterization of charge transfer kinetics of linear EIS through the second harmonic sensitivity to symmetry. For example, NLEIS shows that fresh cells have high symmetry charge transfer (α_a = α_c = 0.5) on both electrodes, whereas early in the cycling there is a shift toward kinetics that favor oxidation on the positive electrode (α_(a,pos) greater than 0.5, α_(c,pos) less than 0.5). Combined analysis of EIS and NLEIS spectra shows promise for improved parameter estimation and model validation. All experimental data and analysis code for this manuscript can be found on ECSarXiv.