Extending battery lifetime by pulsed charging

Journal article, 2026

Lithium-ion batteries are essential for enabling a carbon-neutral transport sector, with electric vehicles
representing the most viable alternative to combustion engine vehicles. However, charging batteries
rapidly without compromising durability remains a major challenge. This work investigates pulse
charging as a strategy to mitigate durability losses while maintaining high charge rates. Battery cycling
experiments were performed using various charge and discharge waveforms, with frequency and duty
cycle systematically varied across specimen groups. A constant current protocol served as reference.
The results show that capacity loss during constant current charging can be substantially reduced by
employing pulsed waveforms. Specifically, a reduction of about 50% in capacity loss is observed
when square-wave pulse charging at frequencies above 100 mHz is applied. Electrochemical analysis
suggests that constant current charging accelerates ageing processes primarily on the negative
electrode, likely linked to lithium plating and associated solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation. By
contrast, pulse charging seems to alleviate these effects. Overall, the findings demonstrate that pulse
charging can improve battery lifetime while sustaining charging rates, offering a promising pathway to
enhance durability in lithium-ion batteries for transport applications.