Simulation of 3-D lithium dendritic evolution under multiple electrochemical states: A parallel phase field approach

The lithium battery is considered as one of the most reliable energy storage methods. The growth of dendrites is a primary challenge for the lithium battery. To simulate 3-D lithium dendrite evolution, a generic parallel computing library was implemented to solve nonlinear phase field governing equations to realize high computation efficiency. Lithium evolution under multiple electrochemical states, including charging, suspending and discharging is studied. Accordingly, growing, healing and necking of dendrites are observed. The driving force, ion concentration and the electric potential are investigated to understand the influence of surface tension and electrochemical reaction on behaviors of lithium. The source code of the program is available to promote the development of the phase field method in this field.