Color-coding real-time detection for the health of lithium-ion batteries

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are pivotal energy devices in our daily lives, yet ensuring the quality and health of LIBs throughout their manufacturing and application processes remains a significant challenge. Here we propose a universal “color-coding” technique to indicate the health of LIBs, by which specific property characteristic and evolution inside LIBs can be unfolded. By defining the standard color coding for the entire manufacturing and application processes of LIBs, we show the change in material characteristics during various processes can be described by variations in standard color coding. Therefore, by establishing a universal color-property database, the proposed “color-coding” method has potential to be used as a practical tool to ensure the quality of materials and healthy operation of batteries.