How a Lithium Ion Battery Actually Works // Photorealistic // 16 Month Project

How does a lithium ion battery actually work and what does it look like at every level of scale from the atom up to the cell level? That's exactly what this video will cover in photorealitic detail after 16 months of animation design.

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*Timeline*
00:00 The Atomic Level
04:42 Electronic and Ionic Movement: Overview
05:40 The Cathode
07:00 The Electrolyte
09:19 The Anode
11:35 Discharging the Battery
14:46 Summary
15:21 A Special Thanks
16:16 Credits Montage

SHIRLEY MENG

BATTERY BULLETIN
Twitter: @BatteryBulletin

ALI ANSARI
Twitter: @AliAnsari84

3D ANIMATION & DESIGN
Artem Matyushenok

SOUND DESIGN & EFFECTS
Evgeny Ryabovol

MUSIC CONSULTATION
Evgeniy Lashin

MUSIC
Opening: Analog Space - Evgeny Ryabovol
Frozen Atom and SEI Sequence: Secret Universe - Olive Musique
Cathode at the Atomic Level: A New Beginning - Esther Abrami
Electrolyte: August Wilhelmsson - Until This Point
Discharging the Battery: Trevor Kowalski - And We Walk After
Final Scene: August Wilhelmsson - Dreams Of Another Reality
Credits Theme: Dark Planets - Isaac Marshall

BATTERY CELL components from the Twitter crew...

@ByWhatMeasure - Cell Casing in the opening scene
@Bimmer3D - 'Tabless Electrode' in the opening scene

[thelimitingfactor]

Interesting factoids and clarifications:

1) Although the electrons can travel at close to the speed of light, the rate at which the battery charges and discharges is often limited by the speed that lithium can travel between the electrodes through the electrolyte solution. When the battery is fully charged, the nickel oxide is starved of electrons, which can impact the lithium ion motion.

2) "Like a drop of ink dispersing in water." Lithium ions diffuse through a liquid, but there's a bit more going on here. The concentration gradient drives the lithium ions to the opposite electrode and is strengthened by the electrical field between the electrodes. That is, it's as if the ions are being pumped from one electrode to the other.

3) "When an electrical pathway opens between the anode and cathode, all the electrons between the cathode and anode sense the energy imbalance." What I'm referring to here is the complex dynamics of the electromagnetic fields that flow in and around the the electrical pathway between the cathode and anode. I anthropomorphised as a shortcut because electromagnetism would be another video entirely.

4) I used the chemistry definition of electropositive and electronegative in this video, which are different from the physics definition.

[WillProwse]

It took me months of reading to understand these concepts. Now you have distilled it in a single video. What an incredible animation. Especially the SEI layer and intercalation examples. Your channel is awesome. I never miss a video!

[ninoponchev]

I am a lithium-ion battery engineer, and I think this is the best video I watched so far!

[joycedibble]

Hey Jordan, I taught chemistry at the high school level for 30 years and I definitely would have used this video with my students. Great job!

[LarsPallesen]

Wow, you have achieved a new level of professionalism with this video, Jordan! Yes, more like this one, please! Loved it! This is worthy of a BBC science documentary.

[ElectricFuture]

This is undoubtedly the best piece of content ever created on the topic. Bravo

[spaces]

This is the most thorough explanation of how Lithium batteries work that I've seen in my months-long investigation of how batteries work. Great Job!

[dr-k]

Jordon if I was a teacher/professor of science your video series would be part of my lesson plan. It is just so GOOD! I get excited just seeing that you have a new video since I know I am going to be informed and entertained. Your presentations just keep getting better. I can only imagine how many hours this all takes. THANK YOU!

[uosiumen]

This video is amazing and you reached BBC documentary level! Hopefully many educators start using it to teach people how chemistry and physics work together.

[ulfasplund]

This is an AMAZING video, and should be shown in all schools since how Li-Ion batteries are everywhere and knowledge of how they work has become something everyone needs to know.

[Tesladocumentaryseries]

Great work Jordan. Amazing to think each frame of the video had to be designed from scratch. This is a true masterpiece.

[peterthorsen]

Wow, this video explains so many of the things I have wondering about. One of my own major aha-moments was when I realized that the electrolyte allows ion-travel, but does not conduct electrons which is why the electrons are forced to travel externally and do actual work. Glad to see that you also included that insight. Absolutely amazing work!

[Adamk]

To say this is amazing does not do it justice. This is visually better than multi-million dollar education programing channels. Just, wow! And don't miss the excellent sound design work that went into it as well!

[dr-k]

WOW Jordon, this was so well done!!! Shout out to all the Patreon supporters and experts who gave their time, talent and financial support so that this information is available to us. I appreciate what every EV battery maker is doing even more now and better understand the immense hurdles they had to have faced to make this complex process even better and more reliable.

[jalenborne]

As someone who's just getting started in trying to become an electrochemical/ battery engineer, this is one of the coolest and most helpful videos I've ever seen. You've done an incredible job of explaining it all, and big props to you and the people who created all the animations!!

[Finlaymacnab]

Spectacular. Guaranteed to inspire more than a few budding materials scientists out there. Thanks for this! PS loved the Helmholtz layer cameo. Ha!

[NickoSwimmer]

Jordan, I was absolutely BLOWN AWAY by this video!!! I cannot recall seeing a more clean and easy to understand explanation of fundamental battery physics and chemistry. I totally agree that a battery is analogous to a biological system in its nano-scale physical transformations. I would totally support ($) and love to see more videos like this. Congrats to you, Artem, Evgeny, and Evgeniy. This is better than Science Channel production values. 👏👏👏

Very curious about the SEI layer formation. Is it stable after facility formation, or still contributing to early battery capacity degradation in first cycles or use?

[AggieSpace]

Brilliant video! This is by far the best description of battery chemistry I've ever seen.

[fhurst]

I feel like I just spent another semester in EE again. Extremely well done with all your visuals.

[michaelmckinney]

Jordan,

You understand the power of a metaphor. Your example of water breaking on a beach was really helpful.

Thanks for dumbing down the chemistry for me. I feel like I get it better than I ever have. Metaphors….keep ‘em coming.

Michael McKinney