Non-Destructive Testing: Insuring Safety, Reliability, and Reducing Cost of Li Batteries
Authors: Redko Vlad I , Shembel Elena M , Pastushkin Timothy V 
Published: February 2020

The safety and reliability of Li battery are determined mainly by its basic design and chemistry. However, without adequate quality control during manufacture, defects in even the best designs can lead to inconsistent performance and early failure. Deployment of automated quality assurance technology at every stage of the manufacturing and assembly process will increase the reliability and safety of batteries while lowering overall manufacturing costs by reducing wastage and preventing defective components from being incorporated into the finished product

During presentation the particular attention will be paid to various non-destructive & non-contact methods and equipment based on the following methods:

Electromagnetic eddy-current,

Electromagnetic capacitance,

Combined electromagnetic eddy-current & capacitance;

Holographic Interferometry;

Gas Discharge Visualization – High Voltage Electric Field method

Ultrasonic with dry contact

The goals are to conducting the non-destructive non-contact testing & evaluation the following properties of initial materials, semi and final production including in-line control during batteries production (is not limited to):

Conductivity, composition and purity of the powder materials, liquids, polymer & slurry compositions;

Interface resistance between current collector and active electrode mass

Thickness measurement & quality assurance during the electrode coating.

Hidden defect in electrodes, solid electrolytes and other components.

Hidden defects in multiple layer structure, for examples, Jelly Roll in battery & ultracapacitor

Weld quality hidden faults in batteries and ultracapacitors

Major advantages of the Enerize non-destructive non-contact testing methods are as following:

Reliability due to non-contact mode of operation.

Efficient, fast, simple, and inexpensive to implement.

Easy to automate. Results are obtained in real-time.

Do not require any special protection for operators and equipment. Safe and less expensive than X-ray methods.

Precise determination of specific parameters and defects.

Provide 100% nondestructive control of the technological operations and the quality of the end product.

Provide quality control of material and products for which contact methods, in principle, cannot provide reliable information due to extraneous processes at the sensor/test article interface surface.

Provide quality control of new materials, including nanomaterials and thin-layered materials, which can be sensitive to mechanical contact.

Non-destructive methods and equipment that developed by Enerize could be used non only during Li batteries production but also during production of the supercapacitors, solar cells, fuel cells, and in chemical, pharmacy, petro chemistry, and construction industry

References. Enerize Corporation IP in the area of non-destructive testing

Method of Non-Contact Measuring Electrical Conductivity of Electrolytes with Using Primary Measuring Transformer. US Patent No. 7,071,684..

Method and Apparatus for Measuring Conductivity of Powder Materials Using Eddy Currents. US Patent No. 7,288,941.

Method and Apparatus For Eddy Current-Based Quality Inspection of Dry Electrode Structure. US Patent No. 7,355,395 and UK Patent GB No. 2435575

Method of Nondestructive Tightness Testing Based on Gas Discharge Visualization. US Patent No. 7,498,817.

Integrated Non-destructive Method and Device for Electrochemical Energy System Diagnostics. US Patent No. 7,783,438.

Apparatus and Method for Determining Service Life of Chemical Energy Sources Using Combined Ultrasonic and Electromagnetic Testing. US Patent No. 7,845,232.

Holographic Interferometry for Non-destructive Testing of Power Sources. US Patent No. 7,911,618.

Method and Eddy Current System for Non-Contact Determination of Interface Resistance. US Patent No. 7,982,457.

Method and Device for Rapid Non-Destructive Quality Control of Powdered Materials. US Patent No. 8,102,181.

Method and Apparatus for Detecting and Inspection Through-Penetrating Defects in Foils and Films. US Patent No. 8,284,247.

Methods and Systems for Non-Destructive Determination of Fluorination of Carbon Powders. US Patent No. 8.309,024.