Patent Application: US-46229006-A

Abstract:
the present invention provides systems and methods for accurately characterizing thermodynamic and materials properties of electrodes and electrochemical energy storage and conversion systems . systems and methods of the present invention are capable of simultaneously collecting a suite of measurements characterizing a plurality of interconnected electrochemical and thermodynamic parameters relating to the electrode reaction state of advancement , voltage and temperature . enhanced sensitivity provided by the present methods and systems combined with measurement conditions that reflect thermodynamically stabilized electrode conditions allow very accurate measurement of thermodynamic parameters , including state functions such as the gibbs free energy , enthalpy and entropy of electrode / electrochemical cell reactions , that enable prediction of important performance attributes of electrode materials and electrochemical systems , such as the energy , power density , current rate and the cycle life of an electrochemical cell .

Description:
referring to the drawings , like numerals indicate like elements and the same number appearing in more than one drawing refers to the same element . in addition , hereinafter , the following definitions apply : the term “ electrochemical cell ” refers to devices and / or device components that convert chemical energy into electrical energy or electrical energy into chemical energy . electrochemical cells typical have two or more electrodes ( e . g ., cathode and anode ) wherein electrode reactions occurring at the electrode surfaces result in charge transfer processes . electrochemical cells include , but are not limited to , primary batteries , secondary batteries , galvanic cells , fuel cells and photovoltaic cells . the term “ open circuit voltage ” refers to the difference in potential between terminals ( i . e . electrodes ) of an electrochemical cell when the circuit is open ( i . e . no load conditions ). under certain conditions the open circuit voltage can be used to estimate the composition of an electrochemical cell . the present methods and system utilize measurements of open circuit voltage for thermochemically stabilized conditions of an electrochemical cell to determine thermodynamic parameters , materials properties and electrochemical properties of electrodes , electrochemical cells and electrochemical systems . the term “ capacity ” is a characteristic of an electrochemical cell that refers to the total amount of electrical charge an electrochemical cell , such as a battery , is able to hold . capacity is typically expressed in units of ampere - hours . the expression “ state of charge ” is a characteristic of an electrochemical cell or component thereof ( e . g . electrode — cathode and / or anode ) referring to its available capacity , such as a battery , expressed as a percentage of its rated capacity . the present invention provides methods and systems for thermodynamically evaluating electrochemical systems and components thereof , including electrochemical cells such as batteries , fuel cells and photovoltaics . the present systems and methods are capable of establishing selected electrochemical cell conditions , such as temperature and composition , and carrying out measurements of a number of cell parameters , including open circuit voltage , time and temperature , with accuracies large enough to allow for precise determination of thermodynamic state functions and materials properties relating to the composition , phase and electrochemical properties of electrodes and electrolytes in an electrochemical cell . thermodynamic measurement systems of the present invention are highly versatile and provide information for predicting a wide range of performance attributes of for virtually an electrochemical system having an electrode pair . to demonstrate the components , performance and functionality of the present systems and methods , entropies and enthalpies of lithium intercalation into various materials is examined using an electrochemical thermodynamics measurement system ( etms ) of the present invention . first , a background explanation is provided establishing the relationships between experimental measurements provided by the etms and important thermodynamic parameters which govern important electrochemical properties of the electrode . second , a description of the components of the etms is provided . third , example data is shown and analysis methods of the present invention are demonstrated which are used to determine thermodynamic parameters useful for characterizing intercalating electrode materials and predicting electrochemical performance . to determine the evolution of the entropy and enthalpy of lithium intercalation into a material li x m as a function of x , the temperature dependence of the open circuit voltage is examined using the present invention . this voltage is related to the gibbs free energy of reaction by the thermodynamic identity : where u is the equilibrium potential of the electrode and f the faraday number . for the li + / li electrochemical couple one electron is exchanged , so n = 1 . the partial molar enthalpy , δh , and entropy , δs , of the lithium intercalation reaction are derived with respect to the amount of charge passed . in the following , δh and δs are assumed independent of temperature . since the measurements are made between 5 ° c . and room temperature , this assumption is reliable as long as there are no phase transitions in this temperature range . such is for instance the case for lithium cobalt oxide at the composition li 0 . 5 coo 2 , where a slight temperature change triggers the monoclinic to hexagonal phase transition close to room temperature . the values measured are partial molar variables . from the first law of thermodynamics relating the internal energy of the system e to the work w and heat dissipated q , the differential of the enthalpy can be obtained : de = δ ⁢ ⁢ w + δ ⁢ ⁢ q = - pdv + μ ⁢ ⁢ dn + tds ( 5 ) dh = de + pdv + vdp = μ ⁢ ⁢ dn + tds + vdp ( 6 ) with μ the chemical potential of the cathode referred to the metallic lithium anode , and n the number of lithium atoms exchanged . the term μdn is the electrical work of the charge exchanged . in this study the pressure p is constant , so the third term , vdp , is neglected . using ( 6 ) the gibbs free energy can then be written as : dg = dh - tds - sdt = μ ⁢ ⁢ dn - sdt ( 7 ) to get molar values we use x = n / n , where n is the avogadro &# 39 ; s number . the chemical potential is related to the open circuit voltage u by μ =− eu where e is the charge of the electron . since f = ne . then using maxwell &# 39 ; s relation for mixed second derivatives , we get the partial molar entropy of lithium intercalation as a function of the open circuit voltage : ∂ s ∂ x ⁢ | t = f ⁢ ∂ u ∂ t ⁢ | x = δ ⁢ ⁢ s ( 9 ) ∂ h ∂ x ⁢ | t = ∂ g ∂ x ⁢ | t ⁢ + t ⁢ ∂ s ∂ x ⁢ | t = n ⁢ ∂ g ∂ n ⁢ | t ⁢ + tf ⁢ ∂ u ∂ t ⁢ | x ( 10 ) by definition (∂ g /∂ n ) t is the chemical potential μ =− eu . we thus obtain the partial molar enthalpy of lithium intercalation as a function of the open circuit voltage , u : ∂ h ∂ x  t = - fu + tf ⁢ ∂ u ∂ t  x = δ ⁢ ⁢ h ( 11 ) it must be noted that μ = μ c − μ a , is the difference of chemical potential between the cathode and the anode . as a consequence all our results are referred to the lithium anode , for which the chemical potential is supposed to be a constant at different states of charge . fig1 provides a schematic diagram of an electrochemical thermodynamic measurement system for thermodynamically evaluating an electrochemical cell . as shown in fig1 , electrochemical thermodynamic measurement system 100 comprises : ( i ) a means 110 for measuring open circuit voltages of the electrochemical cell 115 as a function of time , ( ii ) a composition controller 120 electrically connected to the electrochemical cell ; ( iii ) a temperature controller 130 in thermal contact with the electrochemical cell for establishing a plurality of selected electrochemical cell temperatures for each of the selected compositions ; and ( iv ) an open circuit voltage analyzer 140 for receiving open circuit voltage measurements as a function of time from the means for measuring open circuit voltages and for identifying open circuit voltages for thermochemically stabilized conditions . in the embodiment shown in fig1 , electrochemical cell 115 is a coin cell , means 110 for measuring open circuit voltages is a digital multimeter electrically connected to the electrodes of the electrochemical cell 115 , composition controller 120 is an arbin bt4 + battery test instrument electrically connect to the electrochemical cell 115 such that is capable of charging or discharging the electrochemical cell 115 to a desired composition . temperature controller 130 is a combination of a peltier plate thermoelectric cooler , power supply , thermocouples in thermal contact with the peltier plate and electrochemical cell 115 and feedback temperature control processor . these components were assemble such that temperature controller 130 is capable of establishing and maintaining a range of selected electrochemical cell temperatures . open circuit voltage analyzer 140 is a processor capable of executing an algorithm for determining open circuit voltages for thermodynamically stabilized conditions . two temperature control setups are exemplified in this description . in the some experiments , temperature cycle was controlled manually using a boekel peltier cooler . two batteries ( to ensure reproducibility ) were first discharged to a given voltage , corresponding to the desired insertion composition x . the cells were then isolated in a plastic bag and put in contact with the peltier plate . several temperature steps , usually five , were made . they comprised a temperature ramp followed by a temperature plateau until the open circuit voltage reached equilibrium . this cycle took approximately thirty minutes for each temperature . the temperature was controlled at ± 0 . 5 ° c ., and measured with a chromel - alumel thermocouple . voltage was monitored with a national instruments lab - pc - 1200 card within a 0 . 1 mv precision . in other experiments the apparatus used is that show in fig1 and the whole process was computer controlled . a program written in visual basic for applications was developed to control an agilent 3633 power supply which provided current to a peltier plate in order to make the temperature steps . for that purpose a proportional - integral - derivative ( pid ) algorithm was chosen to get a fast temperature variation without overshoots . the program also controlled the data acquisition of the open circuit voltage of up to four cells along with their temperatures . an agilent 34970 6 . 5 - digit multimeter accurate to 10 μv was used for that purpose . two rtd elements accurate to 0 . 1 ° c . were attached to the plate and to the cells to monitor their temperatures . the temperature of the plate was used to control the feedback loop of the power supply whereas the cell temperature was acquired to calculate the thermodynamic parameters . a four channel arbin bt4 + discharged or charged the test cells to a chosen composition , and then they were allowed to equilibrate for usually four hours before the temperature cycle was launched automatically . the alarm output of the multimeter sending a voltage step to the auxiliary channels of the arbin , made it possible to start the discharge on demand from the visual basic program . about 600 data points were acquired during each temperature cycle , which lasted two and a half hours . it takes about six days to collect twenty points over the full composition range using intermittent 30 minute c / 10 discharges , and steps corresponding to δx = 0 . 05 . the temperature range was chosen to minimize the self discharge effects occurring at higher temperatures : fig2 a illustrates one of the temperature cycles for a cell at a state of charge corresponding to x = 0 . 2 . it can be seen that the open circuit voltage is different at the beginning and the end of the measurement . this can be explained by the self discharge and / or potential drop due to side reactions and non - equilibrium conditions during the experiment . to correct for this error , the voltage drift plotted as a dashed line on was subtracted from the experimental data . fig2 b provides a linear regression of the ocv vs . t for a graphite at x ˜ 0 . 2 . the linear slope of the voltage as a function of temperature gives δs through equation ( 9 ). equation ( 8 ) shows that δh can be calculated with the y - intercept of the open circuit voltage u vs . temperature , obtained from a linear regression ( fig2 b ). note in this case the excellent linear behavior of the u ( t ) curve , with r 2 = 0 . 9996 . for ordered materials like graphite or lithium cobalt oxide , the fit is always very good , since the structure at a certain composition is usually well defined , and the entropy value was large ( on the order of 10 j / mol / k ). on the other hand for disordered compounds the quality of the linear regression is sometimes less perfect . the simplest case that can be considered to get an idea of the entropy evolution is the entropy of mixing for an ideal solid solution . with this model , only the configurational entropy is considered . starting from the boltzmann definition of entropy : assuming a completely random process for the intercalation of n lithium on a lattice containing n identical sites , equation ( 12 ) transform to : s = k ⁢ ⁢ ln ⁡ ( n ! n ! ⁢ ( n - n ) ! ) ( 13 ) since n and n are large numbers , on the order of the avogadro &# 39 ; s number , stirling &# 39 ; s approximation can be used ( lnn !˜ nlnn − n ) and s becomes : s = k ⁡ ( n ⁢ ⁢ ln ⁢ ⁢ n - n ⁢ ⁢ ln ⁢ ⁢ n - ( n - n ) ⁢ ln ⁡ ( n - n ) ) ( 14 ) s = k ⁡ ( ( n - n + n ) ⁢ ln ⁢ ⁢ n - n ⁢ ⁢ ln ⁢ ⁢ n - ( n - n ) ⁢ ln ⁡ ( n - n ) ) ( 15 ) s = - k ⁡ ( n ⁢ ⁢ ln ⁢ ⁢ n n + ( n - n ) ⁢ ln ⁢ ⁢ n - n n ) ( 16 ) finally differentiating with respect to the composition x , the partial molar entropy of the lithium intercalation reaction can be obtained : δ ⁢ ⁢ s = ∂ s ∂ x ⁢ | t , p = r ⁢ ⁢ ln ⁡ ( 1 - x x ) ( 18 ) where r is the perfect gas constant if n is taken as a mole . equation 18 can be generalized for an ordering process taking place between compositions x 1 and x 2 ( x 1 & lt ; x & lt ; x 2 ) and becomes : δ ⁢ ⁢ s = r ⁢ ⁢ ln ⁡ ( x 2 - x x - x 1 ) ( 19 ) in fact other sources of entropy can be present , such as vibrational , electronic or magnetic , and the interpretation becomes more complex when the intercalation reaction takes place on sites having a range of different energies , leading to succession of entropy increases and decreases . also , when a first order transition occurs an entropy plateau is expected , by virtue of the gibbs phase rule . instrumentation is provided for the study the thermodynamics of lithium intercalation in cokes that were heat treated at different temperatures . the method measures the open circuit voltages of electrochemical cells as a functions of temperature , and obtains the entropy and enthalpy of the lithiation reaction . x - ray diffractometry and raman spectroscopy were used to determine the structure of the carbon materials after heat treatment . the effect of the degree of graphitization on the entropy and enthalpy of lithium intercalation was thereby determined . a model is proposed to correlate the degree of graphitization to entropy profiles . it is shown that graphs of entropy versus open circuit voltage for different states of charge give quantitative information on graphitization , making them useful for the structural characterization of partially - graphitized carbons . carbonaceous materials , especially graphite , are the active materials in most anodes of commercial rechargeable lithium batteries . the crystallinity and defect structures in these materials affect the lithium intercalation reaction , altering the cyclability , stability , and rate capability of the battery . in the present work , a series of cokes subjected to various heat treatment temperatures were prepared for a systematic study of the effect of graphitization on the thermodynamics of lithium intercalation . in previous work we showed that curves of the entropy and enthalpy of the lithiation reaction vary greatly between graphite and disordered carbons . this is perhaps expected because the structures of these two carbonaceous materials are very different . the long - range order of graphite accommodates lithium up to lic 6 , and the lithiation reaction occurs in stages with the formation of different orderings of lithium atoms . the entropy curves consequently show several distinct regions with plateaus , typical of first order phase transitions . on the other hand , the mechanism of lithium insertion into carbonaceous materials is not well understood . our previous work showed that measurements of the entropy and enthalpy differed between graphite materials subjected to different processings , and some sources of entropy could be identified in the curves of entropy versus state of lithiation . the present example is focused on carbonaceous materials with low and intermediate degrees of graphitization . it is shown that graphs of entropy versus open circuit voltage at different states of charge can be used to deduce the degree of graphitization of the carbonaceous materials . these thermodynamics results are at least as sensitive to structural changes in partially - graphitized carbons as are x - ray diffractometry and raman spectrometry . a series of coke samples was provided by superior graphite co . ( chicago , ill ., usa ). along with the precursor that had undergone no heat treatment , materials were obtained after heat treatments at 900 ° c ., 1100 ° c ., 2200 ° c . and 2600 ° c . under an argon atmosphere . the average particle size was 30 microns . a petroleum coke heat treated at 1700 ° c . ( provided by carbone lorraine , aubervillier , france ) was also studied . composite electrodes were made by casting a slurry composed of 85 % active material and 15 % pvdf dissolved in acetone . no electronic binder was used because it could influence the thermodynamic measurements . coin cells of the cr2016 design were assembled in an argon - filled glove box . the electrolyte consisted on a molar solution of lipf 6 in an ec : dmc ( vol . 1 : 1 ) solvent mixture . the cells were first cycled five times with a rate of c / 10 between 5 mv and 1 . 5v vs . li to achieve a stable capacity . an automated thermodynamic measurement system ( tms ) was the used to measure open circuit voltage versus temperature on pairs of cells with the same carbon material . a precision voltmeter ( agilent 34970 , 10 μv resolution ) measured the open circuit voltage while the cells were cooled with a peltier plate controlled by a power supply . six temperature steps were made with a 2 ° c . difference between each . twenty minutes of equilibration was allowed for each step , which was confirmed to be enough time for the potential to stabilize . the temperature was measured with two rtd elements accurate to 0 . 1 ° c ., one attached to the peltier plate and the other to the test cell . owing to the reasonable thickness of the cell and adequate thermal conductivities , the temperature of both rtd elements became equal a few minutes after each step . after each 6 - step potential measurement , the composition was changed by a galvanostatic charge or discharge , and a rest time of four or eight hours was used before the next temperature cycle . the temperature dependence of the open circuit voltage was then reduced to the entropy and enthalpy of lithium intercalation at different states of charge . considering the high resolution of the instrumentation , a temperature range of 10 ° c . is sufficient to get accurate data while minimizing the chance of a temperature induced phase transition or a large change in electrochemical kinetics , for example . going below room temperature minimizes self - discharge during the experiment , and the remaining voltage drift is automatically subtracted by measuring the voltage difference between the start of the experiment and two hours after termination . the lithium composition , x , is determined by using the current passed through the cell and the active mass to calculate the capacity , and then comparing it to the theoretical capacity of graphite ( 372 mah / g ). x - ray diffraction ( xrd ) patterns were acquired with a philips x &# 39 ; pert diffractometer using the copper k α x - rays . ten percent of silicon powder was added to each sample to provide an internal reference and give an accurate peak position measurements . raman spectra were acquired on a renishaw micro raman spectrometer using the 514 . 5 nm radiation of an argon ion laser . the spectral resolution was 1 cm − 1 . x - ray diffraction patterns from the different materials are presented in fig3 . with increasing heat treatment temperature , there is a sharpening of the graphite 002 diffraction at about 2θ = 26 °. for temperatures of 2200 ° c . and higher , the 004 peak is visible at 2θ = 54 °. the presence of the 004 peak is indicative of higher crystallinity . the materials heat treated at the three lowest temperature cannot be distinguished from their xrd patterns alone , as expected since graphitization treatments are not so effective for temperatures below 1000 ° c . the 101 diffraction peak of the rhombohedral phase can be seen near 45 °, indicating that the crystalline domains of the cokes consisted of a mixture of hexagonal and rhombohedral graphite . noteworthy is the shape of the 002 peak for the materials heat treated at low temperatures , where a sharp peak at 2θ = 26 . 4 ° is present next to a broader peak at 25 . 7 °. the sharp peak shows that well - graphitized domains are present even in these samples with low temperature heat treatments . the degree of graphitization g was determined from the d - spacing of the 002 peaks , using the following formula : g = 3 . 461 - d 002 3 . 461 - 3 . 352 [ e1 ] where 3 . 461å is the d - spacing for a fully turbostratic disordered material , and 3 . 352å is the d - spacing of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite . the parameter g decreases with the proportion of turbostratic disorder , and is a measure of the degree of graphitization . some raman spectra of the samples are shown in fig4 . raman spectra can provide information on the disorder in the ‘ a ’ direction from the intensity ratio of the d band peak ( a 1g breathing mode ) at 1355 cm − 1 and the g band peak ( e 2g2 stretching mode ) at 1590 cm − 1 . the d band is caused by vibrations that occur only when the graphene planes are small , and indicate disorder in the carbonaceous material . the crystallite size in the ‘ a ’ direction , l a , can be estimated with the equation suggested by tuinstra et al . : with r defined as the ratio of the integrated intensity of the d and g peaks . with increasing temperature of heat treatments , there is a decrease in intensity of the d band peak , and the g band peak becomes sharper , while shifting downward . the calculated l a versus temperature is presented in fig5 , and is compared to the l c values obtained by xrd . the values found for l a are similar to those determined for l c from x - ray diffractometry , and confirm the increase in size of crystallites for heat treatments above 1500 ° c . below this temperature , l a and l c both have a value of about 4 nm . the size of the crystalline domains increases rapidly with heat treatment temperature , reaching about 65 nm at 2600 ° c . x - ray lineshape analysis is only qualitative after crystallite sizes exceed 40 nm , however . fig6 shows the entropy profile of the precursor material with no heat treatment , and the open circuit voltage ( ocv ) curve for the same material . these data were recorded during charging of the cell ( increasing voltage ), using eight hours rest before each temperature cycle . charging was performed at a c / 20 rate . the ocv curve has a shape typical of samples with lower temperatures of heat treatments : it decreases steadily with concentration , and the potential is high compared to graphite , exceeding 1 v vs . li + / li , and decreases below 0 . 2 v only at the end of lithium insertion . the entropy curve has several visible features . after a sharp drop for compositions below x = 0 . 1 , it increases and makes a plateau between x = 0 . 2 and 0 . 4 . it then decreases to 1 j / mol / k , and finally increases at the very end of insertion . the entropy curves for lithiation of the three materials with lower temperature heat treatments are presented in fig7 . profiles for the precursor material , and materials heat treated at 900 ° c . and 1100 ° c . look similar , apart from the region above x = 0 . 4 . the capacity of these compounds , about 200 mah / g , is low compared to graphite but seems to increase a bit with heat treatment . for heat treatments at higher temperatures , some typical features of ordered graphite appear in the entropy curve and the ocv curve . fig8 shows the entropy and ocv curves for a coke heat treated at 1700 ° c . : the potential first drops , and makes two sloping plateaus , hinting at staging . a plateau is also visible in the entropy for x between about 0 . 3 and 0 . 5 after an initial peak around x = 0 . 05 , and the curve decreases for lithium concentrations up to x = 0 . 25 . with a heat treatment temperature of 2200 ° c ., the material develops a high degree of crystallographic order . large graphene planes form and can accommodate lithium in staged reactions . this is seen in fig9 where the sharp entropy step at x = 0 . 5 is indicative of the formation of a stage one compound . the capacity is greatly improved by this heat treatment , reaching 275 mah / g . finally , the coke sample with highest heat treatment temperature of 2600 ° c . had the highest capacity of our materials , 316 mah / g . the ocv and entropy curves ( fig1 ) of this sample are similar to those of natural graphite . the rise of the entropy at the lowest x does not originate from lithium intercalation in the material under study , but rather some other electrochemical couple at high potential above 0 . 5v vs . li + / li , perhaps from lithium adsorption on the surfaces of disordered carbonaceous domains , which may occur prior to intercalation . after the entropy curve decreases rapidly with x below x = 0 . 1 , it becomes negative and slowly levels off at approximately x = 0 . 3 . the sharp increase near x = 0 . 5 can be seen in the data from the sample heat treated at 2200 ° c . finally the entropy curve makes a semi - plateau around − 8 j / mol / k until the full capacity is reached , then begins to fall faster . the enthalpies of lithiation for the six samples are presented in fig1 . for the precursor material , and materials heat treated at the low temperatures of 900 ° c . and 1100 ° c ., the enthalpy curve mirrors the ocv profiles , because the entropy term in the free energy , ts , is small compared to the average value of enthalpy . this is not the case for the heat treatments at higher temperatures . after a rapid increase , δh makes a first peak around x = 0 . 15 and then shows two plateaus . these plateaus can be related to staging , much as for the entropy profiles . the enthalpy and entropy curves are greatly influenced by the degree of graphitization , g . upon a first examination , there seems to be no obvious transition in the shapes of curves for the group of samples with heat treatments at low temperatures and those at high temperatures . this apparent issue is one of data presentation . comparing curves based on composition , x , does not account for the fact that the inserted sites do not depend on x , but rather on the potential at which the sites become active . above 0 . 2 v vs . li + / li , the intercalation sites between well - ordered graphene layers are not electrochemically active . this voltage region corresponds to most of the capacity of disordered cokes . many theories have been proposed to explain the mode of lithium storage for partially - graphitized carbon materials . some proposed that lithium could bind covalently with hydrogen at the small graphene plane edges , since these materials heat treated at low temperatures are known to have a high content of hydrogen . using nmr evidence , mori et al . postulated the existence of two types of lithium insertion sites , some between graphene planes and others at the surfaces of crystallites , or between them . another model , called the ‘ house of cards ’ model , proposes that single - layer graphene fragments are stacked randomly , and lithium is adsorbed on both sides of graphene sheets . mabuchi et al . proposed a model involving clusters of metallic lithium atoms forming in cavities and pores . in our case this last possibility seems unlikely , since the clustered lithium atoms would be nearly metallic , and should contribute an extra capacity above x = 0 . 5 . they would be inserted at a potential close to ov vs . li + / li , but this is not observed . carbons heat treated at low temperatures below 1100 ° c . consist of turbostratically disordered graphene planes of different shapes and sizes . for lithium insertion , these materials have a wide range of sites of different energies , resulting in a sloping ocv curve . the change of insertion sites can be seen on potential relaxation curves . the equilibration time after intermittent de - lithiation of a coke with no heat treatment is shorter for potentials below 0 . 2 v than for potentials between 0 . 2 and 1 v , indicating differences in kinetic processes . by applying this interpretation to fig6 , it appears that above about x = 0 . 33 the sharp drop in entropy could come from the intercalation of lithium into crystallites of ordered graphite . by analogy with graphite it may be possible that the increase in the entropy curve at larger x may occur after embryos of a lower stage nucleate from the domains of higher staging . the rapid decrease of the entropy curve at small x can be explained by the concentration - dependence of the entropy of mixing . filling the first available sites in a solid solution causes the entropy of lithiation to change rapidly . from x = 0 . 1 5 to x = 0 . 33 , the wide energy distribution of the available sites causes the entropy to be almost zero , since a lithium atom can select only a small number of equivalently - favored sites . as a result the partial entropy of insertion should be zero , and the nearly constant value of about 5 . 5 j / mol / k could be explained by the difference of electronic or vibrational entropy between lithium in the metallic anode and the carbonaceous cathode . ( proving this hypothesis would require information on the phonon or electronic entropy of lithiation for disordered carbons .) at higher temperatures of heat treatment , the region above x = 0 . 33 shows more features . this is consistent with the graphitization process , which should make more graphitic sites available below 0 . 2 v . it is difficult however to attribute the successive peaks in the δs ( x ) curves of fig7 to particular staging transitions . the entropy curve for the material heat treated at 1700 ° c . is interesting because it constitutes an important link between the behaviors of materials with low and high temperature heat treatments . the electrochemical capacity of the material heat treated at 1700 ° c . is low , even compared to the carbons with heat treatments at lower temperatures . the hydrogen content decreases rapidly in the temperature range from 750 ° c . to 1500 ° c ., starting at about 10 % hydrogen atoms below 750 ° c . and falling to less than 0 . 5 % for heat treatments above 1500 ° c . fewer sites are consequently available for lithium bonding , but the long range order of graphite is not yet attained , resulting in a low capacity . the ocv curve for the material heat treated at 1700 ° c . ( fig8 ) shows two kinds of behaviors , with a sloping decrease of potential at low x , followed by two plateaus from intercalation between graphene planes as stage 2 and then stage 1 compounds are formed . this mechanism is confirmed in the entropy curve . for materials heat treated at low temperatures , at low lithium concentrations the entropy curve makes a peak , then decreases and becomes negative when the first plateau appears in the ocv . at x near 0 . 3 , the entropy makes a step increase and reaches a plateau corresponding to stage 1 formation . the materials heat treated at 2200 ° c . and 2600 ° c . do not show this dual behavior , but have features very similar to natural graphite . for these materials the only mode of lithiation is lithium intercalation . their crystallinity is not as good as for natural graphite , however , so the capacity is somewhat lower . we model carbonaceous materials with intermediate degrees of graphitization as a mixture of graphitic and non - graphitic domains . this model suggests a fit of the entropy curves with reference curves from graphitic coke ( heat treated at 2600 ° c .) and from disordered coke ( no heat treatment ). however , as pointed out in the previous section , the fit is not a linear combination of the curves based on composition x , but should be based on the ocv , which determines when a lithium insertion site becomes active . for any given potential u , the reference component entropy curves must be combined as : δ s ( u )=( 1 − α ) δ s nott ( u )+ αδ s htt2600 ( u ) [ e 3 ] where δs is the entropy of the material , and α is the fraction of graphitic domains , assuming that the material heat treated at 2600 ° c . is fully graphitized . to test this hypothesis , electrodes were prepared using different mixtures of precursor material with no heat treatment and material heat treated at 2600 ° c . first , equal amounts by weight of these two materials were mixed to make an electrode . the measured profiles are shown in fig1 . both entropy and ocv curves look very similar to those of the material heat treated at 1700 ° c . ( fig8 ), suggesting that from the standpoint of the lithiation reaction , this material is composed of graphitic and disordered domains . another sample was prepared containing a mixture of 25 wt % of precursor material plus 75 wt % of material heat treated at 2600 ° c . as seen in fig1 , the capacity increases slightly while the stage - 2 to stage - 1 plateau of the ocv has a larger range than for the 50 / 50 sample . it is not surprising to see the curve appear closer to that of the sample heat treated at 2600 ° c . because the amount of graphitic material in the electrode was larger . the entropy curves of fig1 and 13 can be compared to the theoretical entropy curve obtained from equation e3 , with a equal to 0 . 5 and 0 . 75 respectively . fig1 compares the entropy of lithium intercalation of a composite electrode made with 50 % precursor material and 50 % of material heat treated at 2600 ° c ., with a calculation based on equation e3 using the reference curves . the result from equation e3 is in good agreement with experiment , although the entropy is a bit overestimated at low concentrations . the calculation with α = 0 . 75 is shown in fig1 , and is compared to electrodes made with 75 % of material heat treated at 2600 ° c . there is a very good agreement between experiment and calculation , except again at low concentrations where the entropy is higher for the calculation . these results seem to validate the mixture model of equation e3 , suggesting that it can be used to determine the fraction of graphitic phase in cokes with different heat treatment temperatures . the entropy curve was then plotted against the ocv curve for each material . these entropy vs . ocv plots for the precursor material and for the material heat treated at 2600 ° c . were combined following equation e3 , and α was adjusted to fit similar curves obtained from samples heat treated at intermediate temperatures . least squares fits for these entropy vs . ocv plots for the cokes heat treated at 1700 ° c . and 2200 ° c . are shown in fig1 . the regression coefficient for the material heat treated at 1700 ° c . is good . a value of 21 % was obtained for α , close to the 30 % graphitization obtained from xrd measurement of the 002 peak position . the degree of graphitization is higher for the material heat treated at 2200 ° c ., for which α = 53 %, somewhat lower than the value of 77 % from the xrd analysis . these values are encouraging and show a good trend , but it must be remembered that even the precursor material used as a reference contained some graphitic domains , thereby introducing an error in α . likewise the material heat treated at 2600 ° c . was used as a reference curve for graphite , but it is not completely graphitized . the use of a coke heat treated at a higher temperature would improve the accuracy of the result . on the other hand , it might be difficult to find a good reference sample of disordered carbon , since these materials usually have poor electrochemical cyclability . measurements of open circuit voltage versus temperature were used to study the effect of graphitization on the thermodynamics of lithium intercalation into cokes . partially graphitized materials show two distinct modes of lithium insertion : cokes subjected to low heat treatment temperatures have lithium insertion into a variety of sites with a wide distribution of energies . as the graphitization improves , lithium atoms intercalate into sites similar to those of graphite . the number of sites of the first type decreases as graphitization proceeds , which results in a mixed behavior for carbonaceous materials that are heat treated at intermediate temperatures . experimental results indicate that these carbonaceous materials with intermediate graphitization differ primarily in the amounts of the two types of lithium sites , and the chemical potentials of these sites remain largely unchanged with graphitization . a new method for measuring the degree of graphitization is provided , based on this model . the present methods and systems are useful for identifying and characterizing physical and chemical properties of a variety of electrode materials , including intercalating electrode materials . for example , analysis of thermodynamic parameters generated using the present methods and systems provide a very sensitive and quantitative means of probing the phase , morphology and presence of defects in electrode materials in electrochemical cells . this aspect of the present invention provides an attractive method for diagnosing candidate electrode materials prior to and after implementation in commercial batteries . to demonstrate this functionality of the present invention , a number of anode materials and cathode materials for lithium ion batteries were evaluated and characterized using the present measuring system and analysis methods . fig1 shows a plot of changes in entropy ( δs ) of lithiation ( i . e ., entropy of lithium insertion ) determined using the present electrochemical thermodynamics measurement system as a function of the composition of a coke anode ( i . e , the stoichiometry with respect to intercalant ) during charge and discharge of coke htt ( htt = exposed to conditions of heat treatment ) at 2600 degrees celsius . fig1 provides entropy versus compositions curves for charge and discharge conditions . the profiles shown in fig1 are very close to natural graphite . a hysteresis appears between charge and discharge conditions which possibly indicates that loading and unloading paths are different . fig1 provides a plot of changes in entropy ( δs ) of determined using the present electrochemical thermodynamics measurement system as a function of the composition of a natural graphite anode . also shown in fig1 is a plot of open circuit voltage as a function of anode composition . fig1 shows the entropy of intercalation and ocv during insertion . fig1 provides plots of changes in entropy ( δs ) of determined using the present electrochemical thermodynamics measurement system as a function of the composition of a natural graphite anode that indicate entropy hysteresis at around x = 0 . 5 . at x = 0 . 45 , a difference of nearly 7 j mol − 1 k − 1 is observed . fig2 provides experimentally determined δs values as a function of anode composition that provides phase diagram information for li x c 6 . also shown in fig2 are computed δs values as a function of anode composition . fig2 shows the layered structure of li x coo 2 cathode materials . fig2 provides plots of experimentally determined open circuit voltages ( ocv ) and changes in entropy ( δs ) for lithium insertion as a function of composition for a li x coo 2 cathode . a comparison of the two plots shows that the entropy profile exhibits many more features that the ocv profile , highlighting application of the present systems and analysis methods for quantitative characterization of cathode materials . fig2 shows an experimentally determined phase diagram in li x coo 2 . fig2 shows the cubic spinel structure of limn 2 o 4 cathode materials . fig2 a and 25b provides plots of experimentally determined open circuit voltages ( ocv ) and changes in entropy ( δs ) for lithium insertion as a function of composition for a limn 2 o 4 cathode . fig2 a and 26b provides plots of experimentally determined open circuit voltages ( ocv ) and changes in entropy ( δs ) for lithium insertion as a function of composition for a li x fepo 4 cathode . fig2 shows a schematic illustrating a diffuse interphase layer model . fig2 provides a plot of experimentally changes in entropy ( δs ) for lithium insertion as a function of composition for a limn 2 o 4 cathode . fig2 provides a plot of diffusion coefficient ( d × 10 10 cm 2 s − 1 ) as a function of composition of for a limn 2 o 4 cathode . fig3 provides plots of changes in entropy ( δs ) as a function of open circuit voltage for disordered carbon ( left plot ) and ordered , graphitic carbon ( right plot ). the sample used to generate the plots in fig3 correspond to coke samples that have not been exposed to high temperatures ( left side ) and coke samples that have been exposed to high temperatures ( right side ). coke samples typically containing a mixture of graphitic and disordered carbon materials . as shown by a comparison of the left and right plots in fig3 , plots of changes in entropy ( δs ) as a function of open circuit voltage are useful for characterizing the physical properties of electrode materials , for example for characterizing the degree of graphitization . for example , the plots of changes in entropy ( δs ) as a function of open circuit voltage ( or composition ) may be fit to the equation shown in fig3 to quantitatively determine the extent of graphitization in a coke sample : the equation above ( and in fig3 ) corresponds to a linear combination of entropy curves as a function of ocv for disordered and graphitic carbon . in this analysis the parameter α , as shown in the equation in fig3 , corresponds to the extent of graphitization in the sample . fig3 provides a plot of changes in entropy ( δs ) as a function of open circuit voltage for an electrochemical cell having an electrode made with 25 % of coke not exposed to high temperatures and 75 % of coke exposed to high temperatures . also shown in fig3 are the results of simulations . entropy plots corresponding to a htt 1700 degree celsius coke sample and a htt 1700 degree celsius coke sample were fit to the equation above ( and shown in fig3 ) to yields values of α of 21 % and 53 %, respectively . based on diffraction data ( i . e ., the 002 peak position ) the extent of graphite in the htt 1700 degree celsius coke sample and the htt 1700 degree celsius coke sample were determined to be 30 % and 77 %, respectively . as shown by fig3 and 31 , a coke heat treated at 1700c , which can be described as a mixture of a well ordered graphite - like phase and a disordered carbon phase , can be accurately characterized by generating and analyzing a plot of changes in entropy ( δs ) as a function of open circuit voltage . the ( δs ) as a function of open circuit voltage experimental data obtained with this 1700 c sample was simulated as a combination of ( i ) δs ( ocv ) of graphite ( heat treated 2600c ) and ( ii ) the δs ( ocv ) of a purely disordered carbon ( non heat treated coke ). this allowed us to accurately determine the degree of graphitization of the carbonaceous material , which is an important characteristic for lithium storage applications . as shown in this example , the present measuring systems provides a means of determining changes in entropy ( δs ) and enthalphy ( δs ) for reactions involving electrodes of electrochemical cells . importantly , measured values of δs and / or δh may be plotted versus electrochemical cell composition or open circuit voltage to provide a means of quantitative characterization of the composition and / or physical state of the electrode material ( s ). this aspect of the present invention has significant application providing testing and / or quality control information of electrochemical cell materials ( e . g . electrode materials ), for example after discharge , cycling and / or exposure to overvoltages . the following references relate generally to the composition and function of electrochemical cells and the thermodynamic analysis of electrochemical data and are incorporated by reference in their entireties herein : handbook of batteries , edited by david linden and thomas b . reddy , third edition , mcgraw - hill , 2002 ; and battery technology handbook , edited by h . a . kiehne , marcel dekker , inc ., 2003 . all references throughout this application , for example patent documents including issued or granted patents or equivalents ; patent application publications ; unpublished patent applications ; and non - patent literature documents or other source material ; are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties , as though individually incorporated by reference , to the extent each reference is at least partially not inconsistent with the disclosure in this application ( for example , a reference that is partially inconsistent is incorporated by reference except for the partially inconsistent portion of the reference ). any appendix or appendices hereto are incorporated by reference as part of the specification and / or drawings . where the terms “ comprise ”, “ comprises ”, “ comprised ”, or “ comprising ” are used herein , they are to be interpreted as specifying the presence of the stated features , integers , steps , or components referred to , but not to preclude the presence or addition of one or more other feature , integer , step , component , or group thereof . separate embodiments of the invention are also intended to be encompassed wherein the terms “ comprising ” or “ comprise ( s )” or “ comprised ” are optionally replaced with the terms , analogous in grammar , e . g . ; “ consisting / consist ( s )” or “ consisting essentially of / consist ( s ) essentially of ” to thereby describe further embodiments that are not necessarily coextensive . the invention has been described with reference to various specific and preferred embodiments and techniques . however , it should be understood that many variations and modifications may be made while remaining within the spirit and scope of the invention . it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that compositions , methods , devices , device elements , materials , procedures and techniques other than those specifically described herein can be applied to the practice of the invention as broadly disclosed herein without resort to undue experimentation . all art - known functional equivalents of compositions , methods , devices , device elements , materials , procedures and techniques described herein are intended to be encompassed by this 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