A new open source tool for microstructure-scale modeling has been developed at U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) for the analysis and optimization of electrode microstructures for lithium ion batteries.

The Microstructure Analysis ToolBox (MATBOX) supports the meshing, numerical generation, segmentation, Source: NRELand characterization of 3D heterogeneous materials, such as battery electrodes. The user-friendly system streamlines the typically time-consuming and complex tasks related to microstructure analysis for other materials. MATBOX extends the existing MATLAB computing platform to increase understanding of the link between lithium ion battery electrode microstructures and performance.

Researchers have already used the tool for the identification of promising electrode architectures tailored to fast-charge applications for electric vehicles. Ongoing studies are deploying MATBOX to compare the differences in porosity and pore structure of wood and biochar to increase the accuracy of renewable energy production modeling for pyrolysis.