Combining Spatial and Temporal Resolution in Cryo-TEM of Device Materials: Preprint

Conference · Mon Aug 15 04:00:00 EDT 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927622008364· OSTI ID:1882669

Dutta, Nikita S.; Noel, Nakita K.; Arnold, Craig B.; Jungjohann, Katherine; Al-Jassim, Mowafak

Cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) has been instrumental to reducing the effects of electron-beam sample interactions and enabling higher spatial resolution studies of beam sensitive materials. However, the process of thinning and freezing samples for cryo-TEM characterization is often complex and frequently involves removing materials from their environment or stimuli of interest for extended times. This can allow for structural relaxation, diffusion, and other dynamic processes to occur prior to characterization; for energy materials like battery electrodes, this makes it difficult to precisely correlate the imaged structure with native structures that evolve in-situ during device processing, operation, or aging. Here, we present methods to prepare cryo-TEM samples from energy materials during these critical processes in the relevant device lifetimes. This offers insights into improving the temporal resolution of cryo-TEM, while still exploiting its ability to achieve high spatial resolutions in characterizing beam sensitive materials.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1882669
• Report Number(s): NREL/CP-5K00-82168; MainId:82941; UUID:54d1b91f-ead3-4e92-b621-0d9e67ed0186; MainAdminID:64468
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
MATERIALS SCIENCE
battery characterization
cryo-electron microscopy
perovskite