Lithium-Ion Battery Charging & Discharging Principle: A Simple Explanation
2025-04-27
The charging and discharging process of lithium-ion batteries is achieved through the embedding and extraction process of lithium ions in layered electrode materials. In this process, lithium ions only cause changes in the interlayer spacing, but not other changes. Therefore, its coulombic efficiency is high, and it can also be considered as a relatively ideal reversible battery.
Take the following video as an example to introduce the charging and discharging process.
The battery charging and discharging process
During the charging process, the external circuit charges the electric vehicle. There are two circuits inside the power battery. In the lithium ion internal circuit, lithium ions pass from the positive electrode to the negative electrode through the diaphragm and the electrode liquid. In the lithium ion external circuit, the electrons of the positive electrode pass through the wire to the negative electrode side; the electrons and lithium ions react at the interface of the negative electrode material to generate lithium atoms, which are then embedded in the graphite material.
During the discharge process, the electric vehicle is running to discharge externally. There are also two circuits inside the power battery. In the lithium ion internal circuit, lithium ions pass from the negative electrode to the positive electrode through the diaphragm and the electrode liquid. In the lithium ion external circuit, the electrons of the negative electrode pass through the wire to the positive electrode side; the electrons and lithium ions react at the interface of the positive electrode material to generate lithium atoms, which are then embedded in the graphite material. During the charging and discharging process, lithium ions move back and forth between the positive and negative electrodes, just like a rocking chair rocking back and forth, so some people call lithium-ion batteries rocking chair batteries.
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