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Most research on the electrochemical dynamics in materials for high‐energy Li‐ion batteries has focused on the global behavior of the electrode. This approach is susceptible to misleading analyses resulting from idiosyncratic kinetic conditions, such as surface impurities inducing an apparent two‐phase transformation within LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2. Here, nano‐focused X‐ray probes are used to measure delithiation operando at the scale of secondary particle agglomerates in layered cathode materials during charge. After an initial latent phase, individual secondary particles undergo rapid, stochastic, and largely uniform delithiation, which is in contrast with the gradual increase in cell potential. This behavior reproduces across several layered oxides. Operando X‐ray microdiffraction (μ$\umu$‐XRD) leverages the relationship between Li content and lattice parameter to further reveal that rate acceleration occurs between Li‐site fraction (xLi) ≈0.9 and ≈0.5 for LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2. Physics‐based modeling shows that, to reproduce the experimental results, the exchange current density (i0) must depend on xLi, and that i0 should increase rapidly over three orders of magnitude at the transition point. The specifics and implications of this jump in i0 are crucial to understanding the charge‐storage reaction of Li‐ion battery cathodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characterizing materials at nanoscale resolution to provide new insights into structure property performance relationships continues to be a challenging research target due to the inherently low signal from small sample volumes, and is even more difficult for nonconductive materials, such as zeolites. Herein, we present the characterization of a single Cu‐exchanged zeolite crystal, namely Cu‐SSZ‐13, used for NOX reduction in automotive emissions, that was subject to a simulated 135,000‐mile aging. By correlating Atom Probe Tomography (APT), a single atom microscopy method, and Scanning Transmission X‐ray Microscopy (STXM), which produces high spatial resolution X‐ray Absorption Near Edge Spectroscopy (XANES) maps, we show that a spatially non‐uniform proportion of the Al was removed from the zeolite framework. The techniques reveal that this degradation is heterogeneous at length scales from micrometers to tens of nanometers, providing complementary insight into the long‐term deactivation of this catalyst system. Look closely: Probe Tomography (APT) and Scanning Transmission X‐Ray Microscopy (STXM) have been used to study the same single crystal of Cu‐exchanged zeolite SSZ‐13, an automotive emissions reduction catalyst, to gain a better picture of how the catalyst ages using two high spatial resolution techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel developments in X‐ray sources, optics and detectors have significantly advanced the capability of X‐ray microscopy at the nanoscale. Depending on the imaging modality and the photon energy, state‐of‐the‐art X‐ray microscopes are routinely operated at a spatial resolution of tens of nanometres for hard X‐rays or ∼10 nm for soft X‐rays. The improvement in spatial resolution, however, has led to challenges in the tomographic reconstruction due to the fact that the imperfections of the mechanical system become clearly detectable in the projection images. Without proper registration of the projection images, a severe point spread function will be introduced into the tomographic reconstructions, causing the reduction of the three‐dimensional (3D) spatial resolution as well as the enhancement of image artifacts. Here the development of a method that iteratively performs registration of the experimentally measured projection images to those that are numerically calculated by reprojecting the 3D matrix in the corresponding viewing angles is shown. Multiple algorithms are implemented to conduct the registration, which corrects the translational and/or the rotational errors. A sequence that offers a superior performance is presented and discussed. Going beyond the visual assessment of the reconstruction results, the morphological quantification of a battery electrode particle that has gone through substantial cycling is investigated. The results show that the presented method has led to a better quality tomographic reconstruction, which, subsequently, promotes the fidelity in the quantification of the sample morphology. Automatic alignment of projection images with respect to a common rotation axis is fundamental to the quality of nano‐resolution tomographic reconstruction. A hybrid algorithm developed herein demonstrates superior accuracy, efficiency and robustness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy density of current batteries is limited by the practical capacity of the positive electrode, which is determined by the properties of the active material and its concentration in the composite electrode architecture. The observation in dynamic conditions of electrochemical transformations creates the opportunity of identifying design rules toward reaching the theoretical limits of battery electrodes. But these observations must occur during operation and at multiple scales. They are particularly critical at the single-particle level, where incomplete reactions and failure are prone to occur. Here, operando full-field transmission X-ray microscopy is coupled with X-ray spectroscopy to follow the chemical and microstructural evolution at the nanoscale of single crystals of Li1+ xMn2- xO4, a technologically relevant Li-ion battery electrode material. The onset and crystallographic directionality of a series of complex phase transitions are followed and correlated with particle fracture. The dynamic character of this study reveals the existence of nonequilibrium pathways where phases at substantially different potentials can coexist at short length scales. The results can be used to inform the engineering of particle morphologies and electrode architectures that bypass the issues observed here and lead to optimized battery electrode properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The multiscale chemomechanical interplay in lithium‐ion batteries builds up mechanical stress, provokes morphological breakdown, and leads to state of charge heterogeneity. Quantifying the interplay in complex composite electrodes with multiscale resolution constitutes a frontier challenge in precisely diagnosing the fading mechanism of batteries. In this study, hard X‐ray phase contrast tomography, capable of nanoprobing thousands of active particles at once, enables an unprecedented statistical analysis of the chemomechanical transformation of composite electrodes under fast charging conditions. The damage heterogeneity is demonstrated to prevail at all length scales, which stems from the unbalanced electron conduction and ionic diffusion, and collectively leads to the nonuniform utilization of active particles spatially and temporally. This study highlights that the statistical mapping of the chemomechanical transformation offers a diagnostic method for the particles utilization and fading, hence could improve electrode formulation for fast‐charging batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]