Peering deep inside nongraphitic anodes with synchrotron microtomography
Thursday, October 23, 2014 - 09:31
in Physics & Chemistry
(Phys.org) —With so much of our 21st century technology dependent on ever smaller and more efficient re-chargeable lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, finding new ways to non-destructively peer inside an operating battery is of critical importance, because so many of the physical characteristics of each battery material change during the cycling process. Understanding what those changes are is the first step in choosing and developing new and better battery components, such as moving to metallic electrodes instead of the traditional graphitic carbon materials. X-ray-based microcomputed tomography (MicroCT) can provide a valuable window into Li-ion batteries, alt-hough with a somewhat slow collection rate.