Lithium Metal under Static and Dynamic Mechanical Loading

Macro-scale mechanical testing and finite element analysis of lithium metal in compression have been shown to suggest methods and parameters for producing thin lithium anodes. Consideration of engineering and geometrically corrected stress experiments shows that the increasing contact area dominates the stress increase observed during the compression, not strain hardening, of lithium. Under static loading, the lithium metal stress relaxes, which means there is a speed of deformation (engineering strainrate limit of 6.4x10-5 s-1) where there is no increase in stress during compression. Constant displacement tests show that stress relaxation depends on the initial applied stress and the amount of athermal plastic work within the material. The finite element analysis shows that barrelling during compression and the requirement for high applied stresses to compress lithium with a small height-to-width ratio are friction and geometric effects, respectively. The outcomes of this work are discussed in relation to the diminishing returns of stack pressure, the difficulty in closing voids, and potential methods for designing and producing sub-micron lithium anodes.