2 / 2016-10-31 19:43:17

Structure and Electronic Structure of Battery Materials at Atomic Scale

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Lithium-ion batteries have proven to be extremely attractive candidates for applications in portable electronics, electric vehicles, and smart grid in terms of energy density, power density, and service life. Performance optimization of lithium-ion batteries necessitates information about structural evolution of electrode materials at an atomic scale. The annular-bright-field (ABF) imaging in aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) allows simultaneous imaging of light and heavy elements, providing an unprecedented opportunity to probe the nearly equilibrated local structure of electrode materials after electrochemical cycling at atomic resolution. In this report, we will present our recent efforts toward unraveling the atomic-scale structure of selected electrode materials with different charge and/or discharge state to extend the current understanding of electrochemical reaction mechanism with the ABF and high angle annular dark field STEM imaging. Future prospect on the relationship between atomic-level structure evolution and microscopic reaction mechanisms of electrode materials for rechargeable batteries is envisaged.