Developing models to predict hysteretic behaviour in LFP and emerging chemistries

In many battery materials, such as LFP, LMFP, silicon, NCA, NCO, and graphite, an effect called “hysteresis” can be observed where the measured voltage moves along a different path depending on whether it is being charged or discharged.

Accurate battery models need to be able to predict measured voltages when a battery is in use. However, standard Newman models of battery behaviour are incapable of modelling hysteresis. While ad hoc  models previously existed that are capable of reproducing some of the behaviour, they are not based on physical processes and cannot reproduce all the observed behaviour – in particular the minor loops or when the current changes abruptly, as it would under real-world conditions.

A collaboration between the Universities of Portsmouth, Southampton and Birmingham, Imperial College London and About:Energy developed a simple and rational model of hysteretic lithiation. Voltage hysteresis arises naturally as a prediction of the model, including the ability to predict features such as minor loops, that are not captured by previous models. Researchers incorporated the approach into the Newman model framework and implemented it in the DandeLiion simulator, giving battery developers in industry and academia a new tool to more accurately predict performance of certain battery materials under real world conditions.

The development has been published in the Journal of the Electrochemical Society.

Image: A schematic graph showing how a battery’s voltage may change as it is cycled from 0% to 100% state of charge. Hysteresis effects can be visible as major or minor loops, showing how large or small effects can alter the voltage measured.

Case study published December 2025.