X-ray micro Laue diffraction tomography analysis of a solid oxide fuel cell.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Crystallography
• Analytical Techniques

Background:

• Heterogeneous polycrystalline materials present challenges for microstructural analysis.
• Micro Laue diffraction tomography (µ-LT) is an emerging technique for probing such materials at the microscale.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the relevance and sensitivity of µ-LT for investigating multiphase polycrystalline materials.
• To analyze a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) electrode composite and a germanium standard using µ-LT.

Main Methods:

• Micro Laue diffraction tomography (µ-LT) was applied to a SOFC electrode composite and a germanium sample.
• Data analysis involved indexing Laue patterns and applying a novel geometrical approach for the SOFC sample.

Main Results:

• µ-LT successfully resolved microstructural features and crystallographic orientations of grains as small as 3 µm in the SOFC.
• Depth-resolved strain tensor components were obtained for the germanium sample.
• The study demonstrated the capability of µ-LT for detailed microstructural and crystallographic characterization.

Conclusions:

• µ-LT is a powerful tool for analyzing complex heterogeneous polycrystalline materials.
• The technique provides valuable insights into grain size, phase, orientation, and strain distribution.
• This study validates µ-LT's application in materials science research, particularly for energy materials.