Modeling of sodiation-induced deformation of Sn anode based on the stress-driven nonlocal integral elasticity

Abstract

The anode material Sn used in sodium-ion batteries displays high theoretical capacity, complex phase transformation, and significant volume change during the charging/discharging process. In particular, the effects of small scale on the mechanical behavior of Sn anode at the nanoscale are very active research fields. However, the majority of these results are based on nonlocal gradient formulations. In this study, we proposed and established a model that combines the electrochemical reaction with stress-driven nonlocal integral elasticity for the nanoelectrode to analyze the evolution of diffusion-induced deformation during the sodiation process. Several critical features, such as the small-scale parameter, two-phase reaction, and concentration-dependent elastic modulus, were incorporated into the established model. The model demonstrated that a small scale could significantly affect the deformation behavior. The results obtained using the finite element method showed that the mechanical reliability of the Sn anode could be significantly enhanced when the anode was sodiated with larger nonlocal parameters and smaller slenderness. In addition, the axial action force exhibited a strong size effect and was influenced by the nondimensional thickness parameter of the anode. This work provides a framework for multi-scale research on high-capacity sodium-ion battery electrodes.