Efficient fast-charging of lithium-ion batteries enabled by laser-patterned three-dimensional graphite anode architectures

Enabling high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries that can charge in less than 10 min would accelerate public acceptance of electric vehicles. However, in order to achieve high energy densities, thick electrodes are often used, which suffer from transport limitations. This leads to a tradeoff between power performance and energy density. Here, we demonstrate a laser-patterning process to produce three-dimensional graphite anode architectures. This process results in a highly ordered laser-patterned electrode (HOLE) with arrays of vertical pore channels through the anode thickness that serve as diffusion paths for rapid ionic transport. We apply the HOLE design on industrially-relevant cells (>2 Ah pouch cells) and electrode conditions (>3 mAh/cm2 graphite anodes) and demonstrate > 97% and >93% capacity retention after 100 cycles of 4C and 6C fast-charge cycling, respectively, compared to 69% and 59% for unpatterned electrodes under the same conditions. After 600 fast-charge cycles, the capacity retention of the HOLE cells is 91% at 4C and 86% at 6C charge rates. Moreover, the HOLE design allows for cells to access >90% of the total cell capacity during fast charging, providing a pathway towards safe fast-charging of high-energy-density batteries.