Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 4, 2025

In Situ Neutron Powder Diffraction Using Custom-made Lithium-ion Batteries
Published on: November 10, 2014
The high-pressure lithium-palladium and lithium-palladium-hydrogen systems
Mungo Frost1, Emma E McBride2,3, Jesse S Smith4
1High Energy Density Science Division, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, USA. mdfrost@slac.stanford.edu.
Abstract:
The lithium-palladium and lithium-palladium-hydrogen systems are investigated at high pressures at and above room temperature. Two novel lithium-palladium compounds are found below [Formula: see text]. An ambient temperature phase is tentatively assigned as [Formula: see text], with [Formula: see text] Å at 8.64 GPa, isostructural with [Formula: see text]. The other phase occurs at high-temperature and is [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] Å at 3.88 GPa and 200 [Formula: see text], similar to [Formula: see text], which is also known at high pressure. The presence of hydrogen in the system results in an [Formula: see text] structure with [Formula: see text] Å at 9.74 GPa. This persists up to [Formula: see text], the highest pressure studied. Below [Formula: see text] an fcc phase with a large unit cell, [Formula: see text] Å at 0.39 GPa, is also observed in the presence of hydrogen. On heating the hydrogen containing system at 4 GPa the [Formula: see text] phases persists to the melting point of lithium. In both systems melting the lithium results in the loss of crystalline diffraction from palladium containing phases. This is attributed to dissolution of the palladium in the molten lithium, and on cooling the palladium remains dispersed.
Related Concept Videos
Batteries and Fuel Cells
Molecular Orbital Theory II

