Electron Microscopy and Spectroscopy Probing of Structural and Chemical Evolution of Interfacial Process in Rechargeable Batteries

Ex-situ and in-situ high resolution electron imaging enable direct observation of structural and chemical evolution, phase transformation and their correlation with mass and charge transport, providing insights as how active materials fade during the cyclic charging and discharging of a battery. In this presentation, I will highlight recent progress on ex-situ, in-situ and operando S/TEM for probing into the structural and chemical evolution of interfacial process in energy storage materials. In perspective, challenges and possible direction for further development of the in-situ S/TEM imaging and spectroscopic methods for energy storage materials and other field will also be discussed. Most importantly, integration of different analytical tools appears to be the key for capturing complementary information, which can be used to guide the design of electrode materials.