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Ion dynamics in battery materials imaged rapidly

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.
  1. Aashutosh Mistry

    1. Aashutosh Mistry is in the Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, Illinois 60439, USA.

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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.

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Nature 594, 503-504 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-01600-z

References

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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