Phase Boundary Propagation in Li-Alloying Battery Electrodes Revealed by Liquid-Cell Transmission Electron Microscopy
Abstract
Battery cycle life is directly influenced by the microstructural changes occurring in the electrodes during charge and discharge cycles. In this study, we image in situ the nanoscale phase evolution in negative electrode materials for Li-ion batteries using a fully enclosed liquid cell in a transmission electron microscope (TEM) to reveal early degradation that is not evident in the charge–discharge curves. To compare the electrochemical phase transformation behavior between three model materials, thin films of amorphous Si, crystalline Al, and crystalline Au were lithiated and delithiated at controlled rates while immersed in a commercial liquid electrolyte. This method allowed for the direct observation of lithiation mechanisms in nanoscale negative electrodes, revealing that a simplistic model of a surface-to-interior lithiation front is insufficient. For the crystalline films, a lithiation front spread laterally from a few initial nucleation points, with continued grain nucleation along the growing interface. The intermediate lithiated phases were identified using electron diffraction, and high-resolution postmortem imaging revealed the details of the final microstructure. Lastly, our results show that electrochemically induced solid–solid phase transformations can lead to highly concentrated stresses at the laterally propagating phase boundary which should be considered for future designs of nanostructured electrodes for Li-ion batteries.
- Authors:
-
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Nanostructures for Electrical Energy Storage (NEES)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1265168
- Report Number(s):
- SAND2016-6066J
Journal ID: ISSN 1936-0851; 644958
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000; SC0001160
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- ACS Nano
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 10; Journal Issue: 6; Journal ID: ISSN 1936-0851
- Publisher:
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 25 ENERGY STORAGE; 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; batteries; energy storage; in situ TEM; liquid-cell electron microscopy; phase transformations
Citation Formats
Leenheer, Andrew J., Jungjohann, Katherine L., Zavadil, Kevin R., and Harris, Charles T. Phase Boundary Propagation in Li-Alloying Battery Electrodes Revealed by Liquid-Cell Transmission Electron Microscopy. United States: N. p., 2016.
Web. doi:10.1021/acsnano.6b02200.
Leenheer, Andrew J., Jungjohann, Katherine L., Zavadil, Kevin R., & Harris, Charles T. Phase Boundary Propagation in Li-Alloying Battery Electrodes Revealed by Liquid-Cell Transmission Electron Microscopy. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.6b02200
Leenheer, Andrew J., Jungjohann, Katherine L., Zavadil, Kevin R., and Harris, Charles T. Tue .
"Phase Boundary Propagation in Li-Alloying Battery Electrodes Revealed by Liquid-Cell Transmission Electron Microscopy". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.6b02200. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1265168.
@article{osti_1265168,
title = {Phase Boundary Propagation in Li-Alloying Battery Electrodes Revealed by Liquid-Cell Transmission Electron Microscopy},
author = {Leenheer, Andrew J. and Jungjohann, Katherine L. and Zavadil, Kevin R. and Harris, Charles T.},
abstractNote = {Battery cycle life is directly influenced by the microstructural changes occurring in the electrodes during charge and discharge cycles. In this study, we image in situ the nanoscale phase evolution in negative electrode materials for Li-ion batteries using a fully enclosed liquid cell in a transmission electron microscope (TEM) to reveal early degradation that is not evident in the charge–discharge curves. To compare the electrochemical phase transformation behavior between three model materials, thin films of amorphous Si, crystalline Al, and crystalline Au were lithiated and delithiated at controlled rates while immersed in a commercial liquid electrolyte. This method allowed for the direct observation of lithiation mechanisms in nanoscale negative electrodes, revealing that a simplistic model of a surface-to-interior lithiation front is insufficient. For the crystalline films, a lithiation front spread laterally from a few initial nucleation points, with continued grain nucleation along the growing interface. The intermediate lithiated phases were identified using electron diffraction, and high-resolution postmortem imaging revealed the details of the final microstructure. Lastly, our results show that electrochemically induced solid–solid phase transformations can lead to highly concentrated stresses at the laterally propagating phase boundary which should be considered for future designs of nanostructured electrodes for Li-ion batteries.},
doi = {10.1021/acsnano.6b02200},
journal = {ACS Nano},
number = 6,
volume = 10,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue May 31 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Tue May 31 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}
Web of Science
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