Research Group Krewer - Inst. for Appl. Mater. - Electrochemical Technologies (IAM-ET)

The Institute for Applied Materials – Electrochemical Technologies (IAM-ET) is investigating durability of lithium ion batteries at MZE. Next to well established lifetime testing methodologies impedance spectroscopy and the analysis of impedance spectra by the distribution of relaxation times (DRT) is used as a diagnostic tool. This methodology enables the in-operando deconvolution of the aging mechanisms in the different cell components. The results are used for lifetime modeling as well as the development of accelerated lifetime tests. Within different projects IAM-ET investigates fundamental issues in accelerated lifetime testing.

Aging phenomena in lithium ion batteries are often coupled with microstructural changes, which can be resolved by appropriate tomography methods.  The IAM-ET is operating a high resolution X-ray tomography device (Zeiss Xradia 520 Versa), which is able to analyze large samples (complete battery cells) as well as microstructural details in the sub-µm range (achievable spatial resolution < 0.7 µm).