Understanding the (De)Sodiation Mechanisms in Na‐Based Batteries through Operando X‐ray Methods

Abstract

Invited for this month's cover picture is the review team led by Carmen Cavallo (University of Oslo). The cover picture shows a team of scientists performing operando studies on a sodium battery, as if it were a real patient in a hospital. Operando X‐ray methodologies deliver valuable information about the structural, atomistic, and morphological changes while the battery is actually in its working state. Read the full text of the Review at 10.1002/batt.202000294.

Accelerating Battery Characterization Using Neutron and Synchrotron Techniques: Toward a Multi‐Modal and Multi‐Scale Standardized Experimental Workflow

“…Synchrotron techniques ( Figure 2 ) can provide time‐resolved data with high spatial resolutions, chemical sensitivity, 2D/3D spatially resolved structural maps, and volume reconstructions. X‐ray diffraction (XRD), [ 25 ] absorption spectroscopy (XAS), [ 26 ] photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), [ 27 ] and tomography (XRT) [ 28 ] have proven to be amongst the workhorse characterization techniques for battery materials and devices, while small angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS), [ 29 ] resonant inelastic X‐ray scattering (RIXS), [ 30 ] scanning transmission X‐ray microscopy (STXM), [ 31 ] X‐rays reflectivity (XRR), [ 32 ] and X‐ray Raman scattering (XRS) [ 33 ] have recently been added to the battery researcher's toolbox and as such have yet to provide their full potential. Spatially resolved techniques, including ultimate nanoscale resolution X‐ray tomography, [ 34 ] are nowadays becoming increasingly popular.…”