Temperature and charging rate mainly affect aging the anode side of Li ion battery [1,2].
We had previously shows that there is an ideal temperature for cycling of Li-ion cells at a fixed C-rate [2]. In a theory publication by Yang et al. [3] show that this minimum depends on the charging rate. In this temperature, the rate of both SEI growth and Li plating reach a minimum. To confirm this experimentally, we studied variations of temperature and charging rate in cycle aging of lab-made pouch cells and 21700 commercial Li ion cells. From the trend of SOH vs. cycle curves at different temperatures and C-rates, Arrhenius plots are constructed. We discuss the ideal temperature for cycling of the cells at each charging rate (see Fig. 1). Slow charging at low temperature is favorable to avoid Li plating and reduce SEI growth. In contrast, fast-charging is better at higher temperatures to avoid Li plating. Furthermore, we discuss how the findings from the Arrhenius plots influence aging of cells with internal temperature gradients.
[2] T. Waldmann et al., J. Power Sources 2014, 262, 129, doi: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2014.03.112
[3] X.-G Yang et al. J. Power Sources 2018, 402, 489, doi: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2018.09.069