Review of In-situ and Ex-situ Techniques for Characterization of Li-ion Batteries

This paper describes the analytical techniques andsample preparation methods used in in-situ and ex-situ investigationsof Li-ion batteries (LIBs). The introduction briefly describesthe current state of Li-ion batteries and their aging mechanisms.The article is further divided into a description of ex-situ and insitutechniques. Ex-situ techniques include a detailed descriptionof sample preparation for repeatable results using Broad IonBeam (BIB) polisher. In-situ techniques are described in theform of a report of selected published experiments. The paper isfurther extended with our experiments involving ex-situ analysesof cylindrical and flat cell types using BIB in planar modeand cross-section mode. In the case of in-situ experiments, thedesign of the cell inside the SEM chamber is described. Twoexperiments have been performed - on the surface of a MEMSchip, and also using a micromanipulator as a current collectorof the investigated electrode.