An imaging method has been developed that tracks ion transport in functioning battery materials in real time, at submicrometre scales — offering insights into how to design batteries that charge in minutes.
The most important materials in lithium-ion batteries are the ‘active’ particles that store and release lithium ions during charging and discharging, because they store the energy in these devices. To design batteries for any potential application, scientists need to understand the ion dynamics in the active particles. However, conventional methods for studying lithium-ion dynamics cannot track, at submicrometre resolution, the rapid changes occurring in batteries that charge in minutes. These are being developed for emerging applications such as fast-charging vehicles and flying taxis. In a paper in Nature, Merryweather et al.1 report a technique that can visualize such fast dynamics.
Lithium-ion batteries consist of two porous electrodes (positive and negative), which are made up of active particles, carbon and a binder material. The carbon provides necessary electron conduction, and the binder holds the other materials together like a glue. The batteries also contain an electrolyte, which provides a conduit through which ions can move from one electrode to another.
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