Towards Understanding the Variation of Electrode Design Parameters on the Electrochemical Performance of Aluminum Graphite Batteries: An Experimental and Simulation Study

Due to their high power density and availability, aluminum batteries consisting of graphite positive electrode and ionic liquid electrolytes are promising candidates for post-lithium-ion batteries. However, the effect of the various electrode design parameters on their electrochemical performance is not well understood. Herein, a high-fidelity physics-based model validated with experimental data obtained from a Swagelok cell consisting of an aluminum metal negative electrode, imidazolium ionic liquid electrolyte, and graphite positive electrode is used to study the effects of various electrode design parameters on the discharge capacity. The model is used to optimize the design of the electrodes by generating several Ragone plots, estimating the optimum current density for a given cell design, and explaining the limitations of the cells based on the transport of the electroactive species. An optimum graphite thickness of 50 mu m is obtained for all the discharge times considered in this study. Determining the ideal electrode configuration for Al-graphite batteries using different ionic liquid electrolytes and considering various discharge durations could provide a reference point for evaluating the suitability of a specific ionic liquid electrolyte in a particular use case.