Gamma radiation effects on Li-ion battery electrolyte in neutron depth profiling for lithium quantification

This paper reports the observable effects of induced radiation on lithium-ion batteries when electrochemical cells are exposed to gamma-irradiation at dose up to 2.7 Mrad. A visual discoloration is noted at post-irradiation and chemical changes in the electrolyte solution are determined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. While battery degradation is noted in this study upon the applied gamma dose, the battery characterized by neutron depth profiling for Li quantification will only receive gamma dose at a fraction of Rad to a few Rad, depending on the irradiation time. This finding established a threshold beyond which the battery's performance maybe affected and concluded that the neutron-based method is nonintrusive and does not affect the fidelity of the acquired data.