CN-121986259-A - Acoustic analysis systems and methods for electrochemical devices and materials

Abstract

An acoustic analysis system for an electrochemical device or electrochemical material is provided. The system includes a housing configured to house an electrochemical device or electrochemical material for acoustic analysis, and at least one electromagnetic acoustic transducer configured to perform non-contact acoustic analysis of the electrochemical device or electrochemical material housed within the housing. Preferably, the system further comprises a motion controller configured to enable translation and/or rotation of the at least one electromagnetic acoustic transducer relative to an electrochemical device or electrochemical material housed within the housing. Also provided is an acoustic analysis method for an electrochemical device or electrochemical material, the method comprising acoustically analyzing the electrochemical device or electrochemical material using an electromagnetic acoustic transducer, wherein the electromagnetic acoustic transducer is configured to perform a non-contact acoustic analysis by generating a lorentz force that induces acoustic waves in the electrochemical device or electrochemical material.

Inventors

• Rodley Ellis Owen
• James. Brandon Robinson
• Francis Prim
• Paul Robert Xilin
• BRETT DANIEL JOHN LESLIE

Assignees

• 森顿科技有限公司

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20241009

Priority Date

20231010

Claims (20)

1. 1. An acoustic analysis system for an electrochemical device or electrochemical material, the system comprising: A housing configured to house an electrochemical device or electrochemical material for acoustic analysis, and At least one electromagnetic acoustic transducer configured to perform a non-contact acoustic analysis of the electrochemical device or electrochemical material contained within the housing.
2. 2. The acoustic analysis system of claim 1, further comprising a motion controller configured to enable translation and/or rotation of the at least one electromagnetic acoustic transducer relative to the electrochemical device or electrochemical material housed within the housing.
3. 3. An acoustic analysis system for an electrochemical device or electrochemical material, the system comprising: A housing configured to house an electrochemical device or electrochemical material for acoustic analysis, and At least one acoustic transducer configured to perform acoustic analysis of the electrochemical device or the electrochemical material, and A motion controller configured to enable translation and/or rotation of the at least one acoustic transducer relative to the electrochemical device or electrochemical material housed within the housing.
4. 4. The acoustic analysis system of claim 3, wherein the acoustic transducer is an electromagnetic acoustic transducer configured to perform a non-contact acoustic analysis of the electrochemical device or electrochemical material.
5. 5. The acoustic analysis system of any of claims 1-2 or 4, wherein the at least one electromagnetic acoustic transducer is configured to perform acoustic analysis of the electrochemical device or electrochemical material without the use of a coupling agent between the electromagnetic acoustic transducer and the electrochemical device or electrochemical material.
6. 6. The acoustic analysis system of any of claims 2 to 5, wherein the motion controller is configured to enable the at least one acoustic transducer to move relative to the electrochemical device or electrochemical material in a plurality of degrees of freedom.
7. 7. The acoustic analysis system of claim 6, wherein the motion controller is configured to enable translation of the at least one acoustic transducer relative to the electrochemical device or electrochemical material in at least three degrees of freedom.
8. 8. The acoustic analysis system of any of claims 2 to 7, wherein the motion controller is configured to enable rotation of the at least one acoustic transducer relative to the electrochemical device or electrochemical material with at least one degree of freedom.
9. 9. The acoustic analysis apparatus of claims 2 to 8, wherein the at least one acoustic transducer is coupled to a sensor head, wherein the sensor head is coupled to the motion controller, the motion controller configured to enable movement of the sensor head, wherein the motion controller is a multi-axis motion controller.
10. 10. The acoustic analysis system of any of claims 2 to 9, wherein: The at least one acoustic transducer being coupled to the sensor head, and The sensor head is connected to the motion controller by a removable mount, wherein the removable mount is adapted to connect to a plurality of replaceable sensor heads, wherein each of the plurality of replaceable sensor heads comprises at least one different sensor and/or a different acoustic transducer.
11. 11. The acoustic analysis system of claim 10, wherein the motion controller is configured to detect a sensor head coupled to the detachable mount and to control translation and/or rotation of the sensor head relative to the electrochemical device or electrochemical material based on the detected sensor head.
12. 12. The acoustic analysis system of any of claims 2 to 11, further comprising a resilient biasing structure connected between the motion controller and the at least one acoustic transducer, wherein the resilient biasing structure is configured to bias the at least one acoustic transducer to a first configuration to ensure that the acoustic transducer is able to return to the same position when the acoustic transducer is in contact with the electrochemical device or electrochemical material.
13. 13. The acoustic analysis system of any of claims 2 to 12, further comprising a resilient biasing structure connected between the motion controller and the at least one acoustic transducer, wherein the resilient biasing structure is configured to allow the acoustic transducer to move to prevent damage to the acoustic transducer when the acoustic transducer is in contact with the electrochemical device or electrochemical material and/or to allow the acoustic transducer to move to conform to a surface of the electrochemical device or electrochemical material.
14. 14. The acoustic analysis system of any preceding claim, further comprising a force sensor configured to sense an indication of a force applied to the at least one acoustic transducer; Wherein the motion controller is configured to control the position of the acoustic transducer relative to the electrochemical device or electrochemical material in accordance with an indication of the force sensed by the force sensor so as to maintain a constant force between the acoustic transducer and the electrochemical device or electrochemical material and/or to prevent damage to the acoustic transducer when the acoustic transducer is in contact with the electrochemical device or electrochemical material.
15. 15. An acoustic analysis system as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising an array of acoustic transducers, wherein the distribution of individual acoustic transducers within the array is such that the array can cover at least a portion of the surface of the electrochemical device or electrochemical material to enable spatially resolved acoustic measurements.
16. 16. The acoustic analysis system of any preceding claim, wherein each acoustic transducer comprises a pulse receiver, wherein the pulse receiver is configured to cause the acoustic transducer to generate an acoustic waveform and/or to receive at least one of (i) a transmitted wave, and (ii) a reflected wave.
17. 17. The acoustic analysis system of any preceding claim, further comprising a distance analysis structure configured to sense a relative distance of the acoustic transducer from the electrochemical device or electrochemical material, and Wherein the motion controller is configured to control the position of the acoustic transducer in dependence of an indication of the relative distance sensed by the distance analysis structure, so as to maintain a constant distance between the acoustic transducer and the electrochemical device or electrochemical material during acoustic analysis and/or to prevent collision of the acoustic transducer with the electrochemical device or electrochemical material.
18. 18. The acoustic analysis system of any preceding claim, further comprising a micro-snap switch configured to interrupt movement of the motion controller when a force applied to the acoustic transducer exceeds a threshold.
19. 19. The acoustic analysis system of any preceding claim, further comprising an optical sensor configured for visual inspection of the electrochemical device or electrochemical material, wherein visual artifacts on the electrochemical device or electrochemical material identified by visual inspection are used to correlate with acoustic transducer measurements at the visual artifact locations.
20. 20. The acoustic analysis system of any preceding claim, further comprising a sensor configured to obtain identification information related to the electrochemical device or electrochemical material, wherein the identification information is associated with an acoustic transducer measurement of the electrochemical device or electrochemical material.

Description

Acoustic analysis systems and methods for electrochemical devices and materials Technical Field The present disclosure relates to acoustic analysis systems and methods for electrochemical devices and materials, in particular, analysis using electromagnetic acoustic transducers and/or motion controllers. Background Acoustic analysis may be used to determine the state and/or characteristics of an electrochemical device (e.g., an electrochemical cell and/or battery) based on measurements of its elastic properties and internal interfaces using sound waves (typically in the ultrasonic range). Acoustic signals received after propagation in an electrochemical device or material may reveal information about the material properties and internal structure. Conventional acoustic analysis methods require contact between the acoustic transducer and the electrochemical device or material being analyzed. Because of the need for contact, existing methods also require the use of liquid, gel or solid couplants between the acoustic transducer and the electrochemical device or material to reduce acoustic attenuation between the transducer and the sample. This can present problems for many electrochemical devices and materials that are sensitive to external couplants, such as water-based couplants. The amount, composition and material properties of the couplant used will also affect the acoustic shape of the measurement, which means that the application of different and non-uniform couplants to the electrochemical device will affect the reliability of the acoustic measurement. Furthermore, the use of couplants constitutes a significant obstacle to the automation and scale-up of acoustic analysis of electrochemical devices and materials. Further, the force applied to bring the transducer into contact with the sample surface can also affect the characteristics of the acoustic wave and the quality of the measurement, in particular the amplitude of the acoustic signal. Disclosure of Invention Various aspects of the invention have been set out in the independent claims, with optional features set out in the dependent claims. The various aspects of the invention may be combined with each other and features of one aspect may be applied to other aspects. One aspect of the invention provides an acoustic analysis system for an electrochemical device or electrochemical material, the system comprising a housing configured to house an electrochemical device or electrochemical material for acoustic analysis, and at least one electromagnetic acoustic transducer (electromagnetic acoustic transducer, EMAT) configured to perform non-contact acoustic analysis on the electrochemical device or electrochemical material housed within the housing. For example, the acoustic analysis system may be an electrochemical device acoustic analysis system and/or an electrochemical material acoustic analysis system. In some examples, the electrochemical device may be an electrochemical cell or battery. The technique of using acoustics for detection in this manner is applicable to batteries of various sizes and form factors, including but not limited to pouch cells, prismatic cells, and cylindrical cells. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that other electrochemical devices may also be suitable, such as, but not limited to, fuel cells, galvanic cells, electrolytic cells, and capacitors. The electrochemical device may also include an electrochemical component such as, but not limited to, an electrode. Electrochemical materials may include materials suitable for use in electrochemical devices, such as materials that produce electrical energy by chemical reactions (e.g., when the cell is discharged) or that promote chemical reactions by the application of electricity (e.g., hydrogen production by electrolysis of water). While electrochemical materials are typically integrated in electrochemical devices, analyzing these materials themselves also helps predict the performance of the resulting electrochemical device. In particular, analysis of electrochemical materials may be used to perform quality control, for example, during fabrication or assembly of electrochemical devices. In some examples, the electrochemical material may be, but is not limited to, an electrode material, or other material or component for an electrochemical device. For example, acoustic analysis may be used to determine the state or characteristics of the electrochemical cell electrode based on measurements of at least one of the elastic properties, density, thickness, internal interface, and/or internal mesophase (INTERNAL INTERPHASE) of the electrode. In particular, acoustic analysis may reveal information including, but not limited to, electrolyte wetting, electrolyte degradation, gas formation, solid-electrolyte interface characteristics, delamination, permeation, internal shorting, temperature, thermal runaway, material porosity changes, thickness, current collector corrosion