Monodisperse Sn nanocrystals as a platform for the study of mechanical damage during electrochemical reactions with Li
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Nanoscale Characterization of Liquid-Solid Interfaces by Coupling Cryo-Focused Ion Beam Milling with Scanning Electron Microscopy and Spectroscopy
Published on: July 14, 2022
Linping Xu1, Chunjoong Kim, Alpesh K Shukla
1Environmental Energy Technologies Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States.
Abstract:
Monodisperse Sn spherical nanocrystals of 10.0 ± 0.2 nm were prepared in dispersible colloidal form. They were used as a model platform to study the impact of size on the accommodation of colossal volume changes during electrochemical lithiation using ex situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Significant mechanical damage was observed after full lithiation, indicating that even crystals at these very small dimensions are not sufficient to prevent particle pulverization that compromises electrode durability.
