Watch on-demand: Cryo- and in situ electron microscopy diagnosis-guided design of rechargeable battery materials for better batteries

We have witnessed tremendous progress on the development of aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy. As a result of this development, atomic-scale imaging and spectroscopy of materials, under high vacuum and static condition, appears to be a routine practice. The questions now arise: How do we extend the microscopy and spectroscopy methodologies to analyze materials at or near realistic condition, which is broadly termed as in situ and operando electron microscopy?

In a general sense, in situ and operando electron microscopy enable direct observation of processes under the dynamic operating conditions of a device, representatively, such as:

• Real-time observation of structural and chemical evolution of rechargeable batteries under battery operating condition
• Finding the active sites of catalyst
• Monitoring of mass transport during oxidation and reduction
• Observing nucleation and growth process in a liquid
• Visualizing defect generation and interaction during deformation
• Capturing the response of materials to external stimuluses

In this presentation, Dr. Chongmin Wang, Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNNL), will focus on recent progress on using ex situ, in situ, operando, and cryo-scanning transmission electron microscopy for probing into the structural and chemical evolution of electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries, representatively, such as Li and Si anode. He will highlight several recent key observations, which, even though they appear to be well documented, are essentially poorly understood, therefore limiting the advances of both cathode and anode for better batteries.

Hopefully, this presentation can stimulate new ideas on how to attack the bottlenecks for advancing electrode materials design for better batteries. In perspective, challenges and opportunities for developing in situ electron microscopy for probing both functional and structural materials will also be discussed.

Watch this webinar to learn how to:

• Capture the frontier of advanced in situ electron microscopy and their applications for energy storage materials
• Gain insight on approaches that can be used to implant a science question on the available microscopy platform
• Stimulate general thinking on enhancing and developing new microscopy capabilities to solve challenging science questions