2017, Meca, Esteban, Münch, Andreas, Wagner, Barbara

We study numerically and analytically the instabilities associated with phase separation in a solid layer on which an external material flux is imposed. The first instability is localized within a boundary layer at the exposed free surface by a process akin to spinodal decomposition. In the limiting static case, when there is no material flux, the coherent spinodal decomposition is recovered. In the present problem stability analysis of the time-dependent and non-uniform base states as well as numerical simulations of the full governing equations are used to establish the dependence of the wavelength and onset of the instability on parameter settings and its transient nature as the patterns eventually coarsen into a flat moving front. The second instability is related to the Mullins-Sekerka instability in the presence of elasticity and arises at the moving front between the two phases when the flux is reversed. Stability analyses of the full model and the corresponding sharp-interface model are carried out and compared. Our results demonstrate how interface and bulk instabilities can be analysed within the same framework which allows to identify and distinguish each of them clearly. The relevance for a detailed understanding of both instabilities and their interconnections in a realistic setting are demonstrated for a system of equations modelling the lithiation/delithiation processes within the context of Lithium ion batteries.

2016, Meca, Esteban, Münch, Andreas, Wagner, Barbara

In this study we present a phase-field model that describes the process of intercalation of Li ions into a layer of an amorphous solid such as a-Si. The governing equations couple a viscous Cahn-Hilliard-Reaction model with elasticity in the framework of the Cahn-Larché system. We discuss the parameter settings and flux conditions at the free boundary that lead to the formation of phase boundaries having a sharp gradient in ion concentration between the initial state of the solid layer and the intercalated region. We carry out a matched asymptotic analysis to derive the corresponding sharp-interface model that also takes into account the dynamics of triple points where the sharp interface in the bulk of the layer intersects the free boundary. We numerically compare the interface motion predicted by the sharp-interface model with the long-time dynamics of the phase-field model.