Using Neutrons and X-Rays to Analyze the Aging of Lithium Batteries
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Lithium batteries power smart phones, laptops, and electric bicycles and cars by storing energy in a very small space. This compact design is usually achieved by winding the thin sandwich of battery electrodes into a cylindrical form. This is because the electrodes must nevertheless have large surfaces to facilitate high capacity and rapid charging
An international team of researchers from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin and University College London has now investigated the tomography methods. Employing X-ray tomography at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, they were able to analyze the microstructure of the electrodes and detect deformations and discontinuities that develop during the charging cycles.
"Neutron tomography, on the other hand, made it possible to directly observe the migration of neutron tomography data were obtained mainly at the HZB BER II neutron source at the CONRAD instrument, one of the best tomography stations worldwide.
Additional data were obtained at the neutron source of the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL, Grenoble), where with the help of the HZB team of experts a first neutron imaging station is currently being set up. Following the shutdown of BER II in December 2019, the CONRAD instrument will be transferred to ILL so that it will be available for research in the future.
A new mathematical method developed at the Zuse-Institut in Berlin then enabled physicists to virtually unwind the battery electrodes-because the cylindrical windings of the battery are difficult to examine quantitatively. Only after mathematical analysis and the virtual unwinding could conclusions be drawn about processes at the individual sections of the winding.
[...] "The process we have developed gives us a unique tool for looking inside a battery during operation and analyzing where and why performance losses occur. This allows us to develop specific strategies for improving the design of wound batteries," concludes Manke.
More information: Ralf F. Ziesche et al, 4D imaging of lithium-batteries using correlative neutron and X-ray tomography with a virtual unrolling technique, Nature Communications (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-13943-3
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