Tutorial ES03—Advanced Soft X-Ray Spectroscopy and Cryo-TEM in Studies of Batteries and Electrocatalysts

This tutorial focuses on the fundamentals and applications of several advanced characterization techniques to understand the atomic and electronic structures of energy materials, especially batteries and electrocatalysts. The tutorial will include detailed explanations of recent advances and developments in soft x-ray spectroscopy, including soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), x-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) and high-efficiency mapping of resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (mRIXS) with in situ operando capabilities. The second part of the tutorial will focus on cryogenic electron microscopy and spectroscopy of energy materials with emphasis on reactive materials and liquid–solid interfaces. Fundamental and practical aspects of cryo-focused ion beam milling (cryo-FIB), cryo-scanning transmission electron microscopy (cryo-STEM), electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and spectroscopic mapping will be discussed. Two invited speakers, Wanli Yang from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Lena F. Kourkoutis from Cornell University, will highlight examples of these techniques used in their energy materials research in addition to providing details on principles. The tutorial will therefore cover both fundamentals and frontier research, and emphasize the strategies to use proper tools for the studies of electrochemical energy systems under extreme conditions.  

1:30 pm—Advanced Soft X-Ray Spectroscopy of Energy Storage Materials
Wanli Yang, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

This course is intended for chemists, physicists, materials scientists and engineers with an interest in applying advanced soft x-ray techniques to study a broad variety of electrochemical materials. The highlight will be on the recent developments of high-efficiency mapping of resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (mRIXS) for studying energy materials, but conventional x-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) and five different channels of soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy (sXAS) will be explained in detail. The attendee will develop a basic understanding of these modern soft x-ray spectroscopic techniques, the proper data interpretations and their pros and cons, with plenty of examples on energy storage material studies.

3:00 pm—BREAK

3:30 pm—Cryogenic Electron Microscopy for Electrochemical Systems
Lena F. Kourkoutis, Cornell University

This lecture will cover the principles of cryogenic electron microscopy and spectroscopy of energy materials with emphasis on reactive materials and liquid–solid interfaces. Fundamental and practical aspects of cryo-focused ion beam (cryo-FIB), cryo-scanning transmission electron microscopy (cryo-STEM) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) will be discussed including signal interpretation, artifacts and limits of each technique. Examples of structural and chemical mapping of processes at solid–liquid interfaces in lithium-metal batteries will be provided, and will demonstrate the potential of cryogenic electron microscopy for probing nanoscale processes at intact solid–liquid interfaces in functional devices for energy applications.