Multi-stage constant-current charging protocol for a high-energy-density pouch cell based on a 622NCM/graphite system

A novel multi-stage-constant-current (MS-CC) charging protocol, which charges high-energy-density lithium-ion cells (LICs) at a faster rate, is presented herein. In this work, the 0–80% state of charge (SoC), according to the maximum charging rate, yields acceptable results for different SoCs, and the charging process is divided into three parts. Twelve groups of experiments are designed under the desired conditions of avoiding lithium plating and using a charging time of less than 36 min, and 1.5C constant current charging is used as a comparison experiment. The full pouch cells are dismantled, and the lithium deposition after 1.5C charging is more extensive than that after the MS-CC charging protocol. In addition, the capacity retention for 1.5C charging is 95.7%, while those for the 12 MS-CC charging protocol groups are within the range of 99.5–100.0% after the 300th cycle at 25 °C. When the temperature is 25 °C and 50 °C, the capacity retention of the 12 MS-CC charging protocol groups remains similar, but when the temperature drops to 10 °C, the capacity retention decreases except for the 2.0–1.5–0.9C and 1.8–1.5–0.9C groups. At the 510th cycle, the capacity retention of the 2.0–1.5–0.9C and 1.8–1.5–0.9C groups is 99.6% and 99.9%, respectively; the values of the other 10 groups are between 95.0% and 98.2%. The excellent electrochemical performances of the MS-CC charging protocol may be due to the minimal damage of cell materials caused by the step-type high-rate charging process; thus, the degree of polarization is small. Furthermore, compared with the conventional constant constant-current (CC) charging procedure, MS-CC charging greatly shortens the charging time.