Operando Transmission Electron Microscopy Study of All-Solid-State Battery Interface: Redistribution of Lithium among Interconnected Particles

With operando transmission electron microscopy visualizing the solid-solid electrode-electrolyte interface of silicon active particles and lithium oxide solid electrolyte as a model system, we show that (de)lithiation (battery cycling) does not require all particles to be in direct contact with electrolytes across length scales of a few...

Facile Synthesis toward the Optimal Structure-Conductivity Characteristics of the Argyrodite Li₆PS₅Cl Solid-State Electrolyte

The high Li-ion conductivity of the argyrodite Li₆PS₅Cl makes it a promising solid electrolyte candidate for all-solid-state Li-ion batteries. For future application, it is essential to identify facile synthesis procedures and to relate the synthesis conditions to the solid electrolyte material performance. Here, a...

Accessing the bottleneck in all-solid state batteries, lithium-ion transport over the solid-electrolyte-electrode interface

Solid-state batteries potentially offer increased lithium-ion battery energy density and safety as required for large-scale production of electrical vehicles. One of the key challenges toward high-performance solid-state batteries is the large impedance posed by the electrode-electrolyte interface. However, direct assessment of the lithium...

Revealing the relation between the structure, Li-ion conductivity and solid state battery performance for the argyrodite Li6PS5Br solid electrolyte

Based on its high Li-ion conductivity, argyrodite Li6PS5Br is a promising solid electrolyte for all-solid-state batteries. However, more understanding is required on the relation between the solid electrolyte conductivity and the solid-state battery performance with the argyrodite structure, crystallinity and particle size that depend on the...

Making Better Batteries: Following Electrochemistry at the Nano Scale with Electron Microscopy

With the focus in automobile industry to switch from petroleum-based vehicles to all electric vehicles, the increasing demand on harvesting energy from renewable sources for a safer and greener future and the ever-increasing demand of the portable electronics systems, the need for better batteries is eminent. The ultimate aim of battery research...

Use of Nano Seed Crystals to Control Peroxide Morphology in a Nonaqueous Li-O₂ Battery

The high theoretical energy density of Li-O₂ batteries as required for electrification of transport has pushed Li-O₂ research to the forefront. The poor cyclability of this system due to incomplete Li₂O₂ oxidation is one of the major hurdles to be crossed if it is ever to deliver a high reversible...

Green manufacturing of metallic nanoparticles: A facile and universal approach to scaling up

High-yield and continuous synthesis of ultrapure inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) of well-defined size and composition has invariably been one of the major challenges in nanotechnology. Employing green techniques that avoid the use of poisonous and expensive chemicals has been realized as a necessity for manufacturing NPs on an industrial scale. In...

Nano-Workbench: A Combined Hollow AFM Cantilever and Robotic Manipulator

To manipulate liquid matter at the nanometer scale, we have developed a robotic assembly equipped with a hollow atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilever that can handle femtolitre volumes of liquid. The assembly consists of four independent robots, each sugar cube sized with four degrees of freedom. All robots are placed on a single platform...

Improving reversible capacities of high-surface lithium insertion materials – the case of amorphous TiO2

Chemisorbed water and solvent molecules and their reactivity with components from the electrolyte in high-surface nano-structured electrodes remains a contributing factor toward capacity diminishment on cycling in lithium ion batteries due to the limit in maximum annealing temperature. Here, we report a marked improvement in the capacity...

Lindhard and RPA susceptibility computations in extended momentum space in electron-doped cuprates

We present an approximation for efficient calculation of the Lindhard susceptibility ?L(q,?) in a periodic system through the use of simple products of real space functions and the fast Fourier transform (FFT). The method is illustrated by providing ?L(q,?) results for the electron doped cuprate Nd2?xCexCuO4 extended over several Brillouin zones...

Bulk Fermi surface and momentum density in heavily doped La2?xSrxCuO4 using high-resolution Compton scattering and positron annihilation spectroscopies

We have observed the bulk Fermi surface (FS) in an overdoped (x=0.3) single crystal of La2?xSrxCuO4 by using Compton scattering. A two-dimensional (2D) momentum density reconstruction from measured Compton profiles yields a clear FS signature in the third Brillouin zone along [100]. The quantitative agreement between density functional theory ...