Curvature-Induced Modification of Mechano-Electrochemical Coupling and Nucleation Kinetics in a Cathode Material

Lithium-ion batteries rely on the back-and-forth shuttling of lithium ions, which necessarily leads to expansion and contraction of electrode materials tasked with storing the ions. This expansion/contraction is taxing on battery materials, and the resulting stresses can nucleate microcracks, a key mechanism underpinning battery failure. In this work, we explore the role of particle curvature and defects across nanoscale and mesoscale dimensions as a means of leveraging relationships between chemistry and mechanics to mitigate intraparticle strain without sacrificing battery rate performance.