Giorgia Nicosia awarded at Battery 2030+ Annual Conference 2025 for her study on ageing of LFP batteries from automotive applications
At the Battery 2030+ Annual Conference 2025, held in Münster (Germany), Giorgia Nicosia, PhD candidate at the Politecnico di Milano – Department of Energy, received one of the Poster Prizes awarded by Chemistry Europe for her research developed within the framework of the AutoMat European project.
Her contribution, titled "Characterization of LFP Batteries Ageing from Automotive Applications via Single Cell Testing, Physical Modeling and Ex-Situ Analyses", presents an advanced diagnostic methodology to assess the degradation state of lithium-ion batteries, applied to aged LFP cells previously used in real-world conditions in hybrid buses, with a remaining capacity ranging from 50% to 80%.
The work was carried out with the contribution of the University of Pavia, also a partner of the AutoMat project.
An integrated diagnostic approach
Understanding lithium-ion battery ageing is essential to assess their recyclability and reuse potential, yet it remains a topic that is not fully consolidated in the literature.
The proposed methodology integrates electrochemical techniques (including quasi-OCP discharges, differential voltage analysis – DVA, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy – EIS) with ex-situ analyses (in particular scanning electron microscopy – SEM, and X-ray diffraction – XRD).
The electrochemical tests highlighted a significant capacity retention gradient among cells in the same parallel, mainly due to highly heterogeneous operating conditions, especially temperature.
By applying a quasi-OCP physical model, it was possible to identify the main degradation drivers as loss of lithium inventory (LLI) and loss of active material in the negative electrode (LAMn). These results were confirmed by post-mortem analyses: SEM images revealed a dense superficial layer on the anode surface, likely related to temperature-induced electrolyte degradation products that hinder lithium intercalation into the graphite. XRD analysis of the cathode further showed a significant reduction in lithium inventory with ageing.
Implications for second-life applications
The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed diagnostic approach in correlating electrochemical data with the actual physical ageing state of materials. This contributes to a deeper understanding of degradation mechanisms and supports the assessment of second-life potential for LFP cells from automotive applications.
