Lithium Ion Battery Technology Course

Lesson 1 • Redox Reactions and Electrode Processes

Explains oxidation-reduction reactions and half-cell reactions at electrodes. Directly links redox chemistry to charge and discharge mechanisms in batteries.

Lesson 2 • Ion Transport and Electrolyte Behaviour

Examines ionic conductivity, diffusion, and migration in liquid and solid electrolytes. Provides the transport physics underlying lithium-ion movement during cycling.

Lesson 3 • Thermodynamics of Electrochemical Cells

Introduces Gibbs free energy, cell voltage, and equilibrium in electrochemical systems. Connects thermodynamic principles to battery voltage and energy storage capacity.

Lesson 4 • Electrochemical Measurement Techniques

Introduces cyclic voltammetry, impedance spectroscopy, and galvanostatic methods. These tools are used throughout the course to characterise battery performance.

Lesson 1 • Separators and Current Collectors

Details separator porosity, shutdown function, and current collector conductivity requirements. These passive components critically influence safety and power delivery.

Lesson 2 • Electrolytes: Liquid, Gel, and Solid

Compares liquid carbonate electrolytes, gel polymer systems, and solid-state electrolytes by conductivity and stability. Electrolyte type defines safety and operating temperature range.

Lesson 3 • Anode Materials and Intercalation

Covers graphite, silicon, and lithium-metal anodes and their lithium intercalation or alloying mechanisms. Anode selection governs energy density and cycle stability.

Lesson 4 • Cathode Materials and Chemistry

Examines layered oxides, spinels, and phosphate cathode chemistries and their electrochemical properties. Cathode choice determines voltage, capacity, and thermal stability.

Lesson 1 • Cell Format Comparison

Compares cylindrical, prismatic, and pouch cell geometries by energy density, thermal management, and packaging efficiency. Format choice drives system-level design decisions.

Lesson 2 • Cell Assembly and Winding

Explains jelly-roll winding, stacking, and tab welding operations in cell assembly. Proper assembly prevents internal short circuits and ensures consistent capacity.

Lesson 3 • Quality Control and Cell Grading

Introduces capacity testing, internal resistance measurement, and self-discharge screening. Grading ensures matched cells for pack assembly and rejects defective units.

Lesson 4 • Electrode Fabrication Processes

Covers slurry preparation, coating, drying, and calendering steps for electrode manufacturing. Process quality directly determines electrode uniformity and cell performance.

Lesson 1 • Thermal Performance Characterisation

Measures heat generation, thermal conductivity, and temperature rise during cycling. Thermal data feeds directly into thermal management system design.

Lesson 2 • Capacity, Energy, and Power Definitions

Defines ampere-hours, watt-hours, specific energy, and power density with calculation methods. These metrics form the universal language for comparing battery technologies.

Lesson 3 • Cycle Life and Calendar Life Testing

Covers accelerated aging protocols, depth-of-discharge effects, and calendar aging under storage conditions. Life testing predicts field performance and warranty boundaries.

Lesson 4 • State of Charge and State of Health

Explains SOC estimation methods including OCV lookup, coulomb counting, and model-based approaches. SOH tracking quantifies degradation for maintenance and replacement decisions.

Lesson 1 • Cathode Structural Degradation

Examines particle cracking, phase transitions, and transition metal dissolution in cathode materials. Cathode degradation limits cycle life in high-energy-density cells.

Lesson 2 • Electrolyte Decomposition and Gas Generation

Analyses oxidative and reductive electrolyte breakdown, byproduct formation, and cell swelling. Gas generation is a key safety and performance concern in pouch cells.

Lesson 3 • SEI Growth and Lithium Inventory Loss

Explains continuous SEI layer growth, lithium consumption, and capacity fade over cycling. SEI evolution is the dominant aging mechanism in graphite-anode cells.

Lesson 4 • Lithium Plating and Dendrite Formation

Covers conditions that trigger lithium plating on anodes and dendrite growth leading to short circuits. Understanding plating is critical for fast-charging safety design.

Lesson 1 • Protection Functions and Fault Management

Explains overvoltage, undervoltage, overcurrent, and overtemperature protection logic and thresholds. Fault management prevents cell damage and ensures system safety.

Lesson 2 • SOC and SOH Estimation Algorithms

Implements coulomb counting, extended Kalman filter, and data-driven SOC estimation within BMS. Accurate SOH estimation enables predictive maintenance and second-life decisions.

Lesson 3 • Cell Balancing Strategies

Compares passive and active balancing topologies and their impact on pack capacity utilisation. Balancing compensates for cell-to-cell variation accumulated over cycle life.

Lesson 4 • Voltage, Current, and Temperature Sensing

Covers sensor types, placement strategies, and measurement accuracy requirements for BMS inputs. Accurate sensing is the foundation of all protection and estimation functions.

Lesson 1 • Liquid Cooling System Design

Explains cold plate design, coolant selection, and pump sizing for liquid-cooled battery packs. Liquid cooling achieves superior heat removal for high-power applications.

Lesson 2 • Thermal Runaway Prevention and Propagation Control

Analyses thermal runaway triggers, exothermic reaction cascades, and propagation barriers. Preventing cell-to-cell propagation is the primary safety design challenge in packs.

Lesson 3 • Heat Generation and Thermal Modelling

Quantifies ohmic, entropic, and reaction heat sources and builds lumped thermal models. Thermal models predict temperature distribution and guide cooling system design.

Lesson 4 • Phase Change and Immersion Cooling

Introduces phase change materials and direct immersion cooling as advanced thermal solutions. These methods offer high thermal uniformity for extreme power density applications.

Lesson 1 • Pack Electrical Architecture

Covers series-parallel cell configurations, bus bar design, and contactor selection for pack voltage and current targets. Electrical architecture determines pack voltage, capacity, and fault tolerance.

Lesson 2 • Mechanical Pack Design and Enclosure

Addresses module housing, structural load paths, vibration isolation, and ingress protection requirements. Mechanical design ensures pack integrity under transportation and operational stresses.

Lesson 3 • System Integration and Application Deployment

Covers integration of battery packs into electric vehicles, stationary storage, and portable devices. Application-specific constraints drive final pack design trade-offs and validation plans.

Lesson 4 • Safety Standards and Certification Testing

Introduces abuse testing, transportation regulations, and product safety certification requirements. Compliance with safety standards is mandatory for market entry in all major regions.