Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 20, 2025

Methods of Ex Situ and In Situ Investigations of Structural Transformations: The Case of Crystallization of Metallic Glasses
Published on: June 7, 2018
Insights into Structural Transformations in the Local Structure of Li2VO2F Using Operando X-ray Diffraction and Total
Christian Baur1,2, Monica-Elisabeta Lǎcǎtuşu2, Maximilian Fichtner1,3
1Helmholtz Institute Ulm, Helmholtzstraβe 11, 89081 Ulm, Germany.
Abstract:
Disordered rock salt Li2VO2F cathode material for lithium-ion batteries was investigated using operando X-ray diffraction and total scattering to gain insight into the structural changes of the short-range and long-range orders during electrochemical cycling. The X-ray powder diffraction data show the well-known pattern of the disordered rock salt cubic structure, whereas the pair distribution function (PDF) analysis reveals significant deviations from the ideal cubic structure. During battery operation, a reversible rock salt-to-amorphous phase transformation is observed, upon Li extraction and reinsertion. The X-ray total scattering data show strong indications of the formation of tetrahedrally coordinated V in a nondisordered rock salt phase of the charged electrode material. The results show that the disordered rock salt Li2VO2F material undergoes a hidden structural rearrangement during battery operation.
Related Concept Videos
Recrystallization: Solid–Solution Equilibria
Crystal Growth: Principles of Crystallization
Initiating crystallization involves manipulating the concentration of the solute and the temperature of the solution. Since crystal growth occurs when the ratio of concentration and solubility of the solute in the solvent...
Crystal Field Theory - Octahedral Complexes
To explain the observed behavior of transition metal complexes (such as colors), a model involving electrostatic interactions between the electrons from the ligands and the electrons in the unhybridized d orbitals of the central metal atom has been developed. This electrostatic model is crystal field theory (CFT). It helps to understand, interpret, and predict the colors, magnetic behavior, and some structures of coordination compounds of transition metals.
CFT focuses on...
Molecular and Ionic Solids
Molecular Solids
Molecular crystalline solids, such as ice, sucrose (table sugar), and iodine, are solids that are composed of neutral molecules as their constituent units. These molecules are held together by weak intermolecular forces such as London dispersion forces, dipole-dipole interactions, or hydrogen bonds, which...
X-ray Crystallography
Diffraction
Diffraction is the change in the direction of travel experienced by an electromagnetic wave when it encounters a physical barrier whose dimensions are comparable to those of the wavelength of the light. X-rays are electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths about as long as the distance between neighboring...
Structures of Solids

