A list of the measurement techniques along with a brief description and where we have deeper posts describing those techniques.
Cell Test Data Formats
Maccor ships tab-delimited text with thousands separators in the numbers. BioLogic .mpr files are binary. Neware sometimes puts multiple datasets across Excel sheets. Novonix has a [Summary] section before the time series starts. We (Ionworks) have written before about how battery workflows break at the handoffs between tools and teams. Data format fragmentation is one of the earliest handoffs, and one of the most annoying.
Accelerated Rate Calorimetry (ARC)
Adiabatic testing method used to analyse the thermal stability, decomposition, and runaway potential of chemicals, explosives, and batteries.
Calorimetry
A branch of thermodynamics that deals with heat transfer quantification. Heat can be transferred during a variety of processes, such as chemical reactions, phase changes, or dissolution of solutes in a solvent. Calorimetry follows the first law of thermodynamics, which states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred.
CT Scanning
Using CT Scanning to Detect Battery Defects
Battery defects are a major scourge on the industry. In fact, battery defects have been deemed responsible for major billion-dollar electric vehicle recalls.
CT scanning cells is a way of understanding manufacturing quality issues.
Differential Voltage Analysis (DVA) / Incremental Capacity Analysis (ICA)
Non-invasive electrochemical voltage spectroscopy techniques (dV/dQ and its inverse dQ/dV) used to diagnose internal cell state and attribute capacity fade to specific degradation modes, using only the voltage and current data already collected during standard cycling.
Chemistry Analysis (XRD, SEM and other materials techniques)
Materials-level characterisation techniques such as X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), spanning raw material qualification through to failure mode analysis, are covered separately on the Chemistry Analysis page rather than duplicated here.
Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS)
Offers a non-destructive route to in-situ analysis of the dynamic processes occurring inside a battery by measuring the complex impedance.
Galvanostatic Intermittent Titration Technique
The established methodology for Open Circuit Voltage measurement is the Galvanostatic Intermittent Titration Technique (GITT). However, its significant limitation is the large experimental duration, requiring multiple days.
To simulate a battery, the open circuit voltage (OCV) and diffusion coefficient of its active materials must be determined.
Here, Intermittent Current Interruption (ICI) was used as a fast alternative. The rest durations were varied to optimise between accuracy and test duration
Hybrid Pulse Power Characterization (HPPC)
Battery test used to determine the dynamic performance characteristics of a battery, in particular the DC Internal Resistance of the cell. The battery is pulse discharged typically at 1C for 10s. The voltage and current profile is then used to determine the internal resistance of the cell. These measurements are repeated for charge and over different temperatures, States of Charge, different pulse lengths and at different rates. In this way a complete map of the internal resistance of the cell can be created and using this a power map versus SoC and temperature.
Intermittent Current Interruption (ICI)
ICI Studio, a new web-based app for end-to-end analysis and visualisation of ICI experimental data: Link to the web app: https://ici-studio.lacey.se and GitHub repo, including README/Instructions: https://github.com/mjlacey/ici_studio
Ultra High Precision Coulometry
Uses precise measurements of cell capacity, cycling losses and hence changes in the cell performance over the first few cycles.
Needs review: the to-do list asked whether this page is “enough” for cell-level characterisation. It now cross-links DVA/ICA and the separate Chemistry Analysis page (XRD, SEM, etc.). Advanced imaging techniques (synchrotron XRD/CT, neutron imaging, cryo-TEM/FIB-SEM) were deliberately left out per the adjacent to-do item, which frames adding them as a strategic call (research-grade credibility vs. practising-engineer focus) rather than a content gap — left for Nigel to decide.