Johanna Nelson uses powerful X-ray imaging to study lithium-sulfur batteries, a promising technology that could some day power electric vehicles.
[sound]
Stanford University.
Lithium sulfur batteries have a very high
capacity. However, their cycle life is very short so you, you want a battery
that can be cycled multiple times. So you don't want to lose your active sulfur
material so that it can't be reused in the next cycle. Using scanning electron
microscopes, previous studies have showed that the sulfur particles that
start out before you start cycling this battery are completely gone by the end of,
of the discharge cycle. But electrons do not penetrate into materials very well,
so you could never look at a full battery in an electron microscope, so we have
to use x-rays. This is an x-ray microscope. X-rays come from here into the
first lens which is an objective lens. And the objective lens creates an image
which is going to be recorded on our camera or our CCD detector which is far down
there. We were looking at a battery which we put here and we attached
electrode leads off of the battery so that we could cycle the battery while we were
imaging. So, we take images every five minutes and cycle the battery for its discharge
and then charge state. So you can speed up that and, and get a video of what's
happening. In this example in a battery, so what would happen in over eight hours,
we can make a video in a matter of a minute. What we found, looking at the
battery while it's operating and not having to disassemble it using x-rays
we found that the sulfur particles did not dissolve. That the particles for the most
part stayed where they where for lithium sulfur batteries the significance is
that many scientists and engineers are working on developing ways of
trapping the sulfur In to stay on the electrode. And so this technique can
be used by them to test whether or not their trapping is sufficient enough. You
need a synchrotron to do this very quick imaging in most laboratories.
A single image would take ten minutes for us. A single image takes half a second.
For more, please visit us at stanford.edu.
All content is © SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Downloading, displaying, using or copying of any visuals in this archive indicates your agreement to be bound by SLAC's media use guidelines.
For questions, please contact SLAC media relations:
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory explores how the universe works at the biggest, smallest and fastest scales and invents powerful tools used by researchers around the globe. As world leaders in ultrafast science and bold explorers of the physics of the universe, we forge new ground in understanding our origins and building a healthier and more sustainable future. Our discovery and innovation help develop new materials and chemical processes and open unprecedented views of the cosmos and life’s most delicate machinery. Building on more than 60 years of visionary research, we help shape the future by advancing areas such as quantum technology, scientific computing and the development of next-generation accelerators.
SLAC is operated by Stanford University for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time.
The new SLAC-Stanford Battery Center aims to bridge the gaps between discovering, manufacturing and deploying innovative energy storage solutions.
Studies of atomic-level processes that drain battery life and efficiency help improve battery performance.
The new SLAC-Stanford Battery Center aims to bridge the gaps between discovering, manufacturing and deploying innovative energy storage solutions.
Studies of atomic-level processes that drain battery life and efficiency help improve battery performance.
In this illustration, the pairs of red spheres are escaping oxygen atoms and purple spheres are metal ions. This new understanding could lead to...
