Methods—Kintsugi imaging of battery electrodes: distinguishing pores from the carbon binder domain using Pt deposition
File(s)Cooper_2022_J._Electrochem._Soc._169_070512.pdf (1.8 MB)
Published version
Author(s)
Cooper, Samuel John
Roberts, Scott A
Liu, Zhao
Winiarski, Bartlomiej
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The mesostructure of porous electrodes used in lithium-ion batteries strongly influences cell performance. Accurate imaging of the distribution of phases in these electrodes would allow this relationship to be better understood through simulation. However, imaging the nanoscale features in these components is challenging. While scanning electron microscopy is able to achieve the required resolution, it has well established difficulties imaging porous media. This is because the flat imaging planes prepared using focused ion beam milling will intersect with the pores, which makes the images hard to interpret as the inside walls of the pores are observed. It is common to infiltrate porous media with resin prior to imaging to help resolve this issue, but both the nanoscale porosity and the chemical similarity of the resins to the battery materials undermine the utility of this approach for most electrodes. In this study, a technique is demonstrated which uses in situ infiltration of platinum to fill the pores and thus enhance their contrast during imaging. Reminiscent of the Japanese art of repairing cracked ceramics with precious metals, this technique is referred to as the kintsugi method. The images resulting from applying this technique to a conventional porous cathode are presented and then segmented using a multi-channel convolutional method. We show that while some cracks in active material particles were empty, others appear to be filled (perhaps with the carbon binder phase), which will have implications for the rate performance of the cell. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy was used to validate the distribution of phases resulting from image analysis, which also suggested a graded distribution of the binder relative to the carbon additive. The equipment required to use the kintsugi method is commonly available in major research facilities and so we hope that this method will be rapidly adopted to improve the imaging of electrode materials and porous media in general.
Date Acceptance
2022-07-01
Citation
Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 169
ISSN
0013-4651
Publisher
The Electrochemical Society
Journal / Book Title
Journal of The Electrochemical Society
Volume
169
Copyright Statement
© 2022 The Author(s). Published on behalf of The Electrochemical Society by IOP Publishing Limited. This is an open access
article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse of the work in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. [DOI: 10.1149/
1945-7111/ac7a68]
article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse of the work in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. [DOI: 10.1149/
1945-7111/ac7a68]
Identifier
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1149/1945-7111/ac7a68
Subjects
0303 Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry
0306 Physical Chemistry (incl. Structural)
0912 Materials Engineering
Energy
Publication Status
Published online
Date Publish Online
2022-07-15