A surface locking instability for atomic intercalation into a solid electrode

By introducing a coupling between internal stresses and activation energy for diffusion in the classical theory of diffusion induced stresses, a class of nonconventional solutions has been found for atomic intercalation into a solid electrode, indicative of a surface locking instability once the product between electrode dimension and charging rate exceeds a critical value. This finding may have important implications for the lithium ion battery technology.