![]() ![]() They were able to track the discharging by looking at the movement of the lithium ions, removed from the Li-metal anode and diffusing into the thionyl chloride cathode. Thanks to the use of a 'golden-ratio' scanning method, Ralf and his collaborators were able to collect a sequence of tomographies and build-up a four dimensional image of the inside of a battery whilst it was being discharged. His two-part study, published in the Journal of The Electrochemical Society, combines their work on IMAT with X-ray imaging to quantify the lithium remaining in the anode during discharge of a LS 14250 ½ AA sized commercial Li/SOCl 2 battery cell designed for low-rate applications such as backup batteries in computers or alarm systems. “Neutron imaging at high spatial and temporal resolution is an emerging technique" explains Ralf “but it provides the power to visualise the lithium inside a battery, making this the perfect complementary technique to X-rays." However, neutrons are very sensitive to lithium, and to any hydrogen present, and consequently neutrons imaging uncovers provides unique insight of what goes on inside a battery during charging and discharging. Image, right: Time resolved horizontal orthogonal slices of the LS 14250 cell discharged with 8 mA visualising the lithium diffusion from the lithium metal electrode in the liquid SOCl 2 cathode. ![]() This makes looking into details of battery materials containing lithium especially challenging. X-rays are commonly used for imaging these types of devices but, due to the nature of X-rays, which interact with the electron cloud rather than the nucleus, lithium ions are largely transparent using this technique. Lead researcher on the experiment, Ralf Ziesche, has just finished his PhD as part of an ISIS Facility Development Studentship, joint with Professor Paul Shearing at UCL.ĭuring his PhD, Ralf worked on the neutron imaging and diffraction instrument IMAT at ISIS developing neutron imaging techniques for electrochemical devices such as batteries and fuel cells. ![]()
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