Keynote: Electrochemical Modeling for Optimized Operating Strategies and Development of Automotive Cells

In this keynote talk from COMSOL Day: Battery Design, Nikolaos Papadopoulos of Porsche discusses how he is using electrochemical modeling to design high-energy lithium-ion batteries with fast charging times for electric cars.

Papadopoulos introduces the phenomenon of lithium plating and highlights how it can limit the fast charging capabilities of lithium-ion batteries. Papadopoulos then shares how he used the COMSOL Multiphysics^® software to develop an electrochemical model with lithium plating and coupled mechanics to analyze how the lithium plating would interfere with the charging of the batteries — and prevent it from happening. He compares the results from the model with a real-world experiment for the voltage and pressure, highlighting a close agreement between the simulation and experiment. To conclude the talk, Papadopoulos discusses the use of electrochemical modeling for designing silicon-based batteries.

Nikolaos Papadopoulos has worked as an engineer with Porsche in Germany since 2018 and became strategy manager of charging networks and technologies in 2023. He holds a master’s degree in advanced materials and engineering with a focus on all-solid-state batteries, as well as double BE degrees in materials engineering and industrial engineering.