Insights from operando characterization:
A webinar with Simon Fleischmann at Helmut Institute Ulm
To fully examine and understand what is happening in a battery during operando several different methods are used like X-ray diffraction, electrochemical dilatometry, electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance measurements, or impedance spectroscopy. But in the quest for novel electrode materials for energy storage devices based on ion intercalation, Simon Fleischman and his group at Helmut Institute Ulm found out that they needed some new approaches to catch the whole picture. He shared his insights at a digital Battery 2030+-seminar.
Conventional methods are not always appropriate; sometimes they give you only part of the picture. Charge storage at confined interfaces taking place at the nanometerscale are often best understood by combining different techniques of advanced electrochemical characterization, said Simon Fleischman. Then you can overcome current limitations regarding fast-charging and lifetime of batteries, better understand the chemical mechanics and kinetics in solid state batteries, or look for suitable materials for Na-ion intercalation anodes.
Simon Fleischman continued with a brief overview of how and when different operando techniques are appropriate. In several examples he explained how to best study material reactions on the nanometerscale, such as the electrode volume change during lithiation and delithation. Other examples were ways to study how confinement-driven solvation effects shape reaction kinetics and interfacial stability.
The webinar was arranged by the Battery 2030+-interface projects Opera, Ultrabat, and Opincharge.