A novel designed visualized Li-ion battery for in-situ measuring the variation of internal temperature

Since thermal safety is a significant topic in Li-ion batteries (LIBs), monitoring the internal temperature can offer valuable information to clarify the mechanism of heat accumulation. However, it is a challenge to measure the internal temperature of LIBs due to the harsh electrochemical environment and unexpected impacts on the battery performance. For addressing such issue, a novel internal temperature measurement technique with a minimized influence on the electrochemical performance is developed for in situ measuring the internal temperature of the LIB. In the specific design, one end of the LIB is sealed with a BaF₂ optical glass, through which the infrared camera is allowed for real-time monitoring the internal temperature during charging and discharging processes. In addition to a stable electrochemical performance in such the visualized LIB, the observation results indicate that the temperatures are different during the charging and discharging processes. A maximum temperature difference 2.0°C between internal and surface of the visualized LIB is observed at the end of discharge process under 2C rate condition. It indicates that internal temperature is more important to analyze the effects of temperature on the thermal safety of the high capacity LIBs. The proposed internal temperature measurement technique could be widely used for analyzing the effects of temperature on the thermal safety of LIBs in further work.