Shear-lag model of diffusion-induced buckling of core–shell nanowires

The lithiation and de-lithiation during the electrochemical cycling of lithium–ion batteries (LIBs) can introduce local deformation in the active materials of electrodes, resulting in the evolution of local stress and strain in the active materials. Understanding the structural degradation associated with lithiation-induced deformation in the active materials is one of the important steps towards structural optimization of the active materials used in LIBs. There are various degradation modes, including swelling, cracking, and buckling especially for the nanowires and nanorods used in LIBs. In this work, a shear-lag model and the theory of diffusion-induced stress are used to investigate diffusion-induced buckling of core–shell nanowires during lithiation. The critical load for the onset of the buckling of a nanowire decreases with the increase of the nanowire length. The larger the surface current density, the less the time is to reach the critical load for the onset of the buckling of the nanowire. (paper)