Coin Cell Battery Chamber Design for Low-temperature Operando Experiments

As we become more reliant on the rechargeable batteries that power our devices, it is becoming increasingly important to understand the capacity and performance reductions that occur in cold weather environments. Research focused on the cycling performance of batteries at low temperatures is essential for guiding the design and optimization of advanced batteries. However, commercially available low-temperature battery cycling equipment tends to be expensive, preventing low-temperature cycling research from being performed in many facilities. The following is a simple, cost-effective temperature chamber design that is easy to assemble and implement quickly. This design enables reliable temperature control for four 2032 coin cells in low-humidity environments, thereby reducing corrosion and condensation issues. Electrochemical cycling data is shown to demonstrate the cell capacity evolution at T = 0 ± 1 °C for 100 cycles at a C-rate of C/7. The temperature can be lowered to -5 °C in the current design, and small modifications would allow for even lower temperatures. In addition, this design can also be easily adapted to accommodate other types of batteries or to increase the number of samples measured.