Intercalation

Example

Use in Lemonergy

Connect reaction sites and transport paths.

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Learn it in Lesson 4 · Battery aging →

Connected concepts

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Alloying reaction

An electrode mechanism in which lithium forms an alloy with the host, as it does with silicon, tin or aluminium. It stores far more lithium per atom than intercalation at the cost of volume changes of several hundred percent.

Conversion reaction

An electrode reaction in which the host compound is broken down and reformed, as sulfur or a metal fluoride is, rather than lithium slotting into an intact structure. Conversion materials store more charge than intercalation hosts but suffer large volume change and voltage hysteresis.

Graphite

Layered carbon, the negative active material of nearly all lithium-ion cells. Lithium intercalates between its layers up to LiC₆, a theoretical 372 mAh/g, at a potential about 0.1 V above lithium metal.

Lithium plating

Lithium metal depositing on the negative-electrode surface instead of intercalating into it. It is promoted by charging at low temperature or high current.

Rocking-chair mechanism

The working principle of a lithium-ion cell: lithium ions rock back and forth between host electrodes and are neither plated nor dissolved. Because the electrodes are only hosts, the ion count stays fixed and the cell can cycle thousands of times.

References & further reading

Further reading on this topic

These sources provide broader context; they are not presented as citations for every statement in this entry.

1. Quantities, Units and Symbols in Physical Chemistry, 3rd edition, 2nd printing

   IUPAC · 2011

   Topic background · Physical-chemistry notation, thermodynamics, electrochemistry and transport quantities.