Multimodal Battery Characterization Workflows in The Framework of The BIGMAP Project

Battery materials or cells can be characterized by a wealth of lab-scale and large scale facility techniques, e.g., for instance, spectroscopies, imaging or diffraction, in many different types of modalities, e.g., low resolution fast-scanning or high resolution, post-mortem or operando, surface or bulk, etc. Each of these techniques may provide key insights into one specific aspect of materials and interfaces behaviors. However, data acquired on different instruments by different teams are usually not comparable or jointly exploitable, as they are not obtained in the same conditions with the same time or space resolutions, and not accompanied by the appropriate ontologized metadata. The single-technique approach has long lived but does not allow to accelerate our understanding of the complexity of battery processes [1], as well as to establish a more holistic knowledge of what governs the battery behavior. In the frame of the European project BIGMAP (Battery Interface Genome Materials Acceleration Platform) we are overcoming these hurdles by coordinating and correlating experiments to accelerate and automatize multiscale characterization. We designed and executed an archetypal experimental workflow involving several facilities across Europe. As a result, pan-European in-lab and Large Scale Facility (LSF) characterization experiments were performed on a selected chemistry (graphite/LNO) probing a large range of temporal and spatial domains with various degrees of data fidelity. In this talk, we will present examples of correlative experiments performed using complementary spectroscopies, 2D scanning techniques, and 3D imaging techniques, focusing on the benefits of multimodal approaches where isotopic-contrasted neutron experiments are combined, for instance, to high speed scanning resolution x-rays experiments. Exemplarily on the graphite/LNO battery, we will show how we combine a variety of techniques in order to gain a more holistic understanding of the ageing process in the electrodes, as well as evaluate the impact of electrolyte additives onto the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation and growth.<br/><br/>[1] Advanced Energy Materials, 2021, 2102694. D. Atkins, E. Capria, K. Edström, T. Famprikis, A. Grimaud, Q. Jacquet, M. Johnson, A. Matic, P. Norby, H. Reichert, J-P. Rueff, C. Villevieille, M. Wagemaker*, S. Lyonnard*. Accelerating Battery Characterization Using Neutron and Synchrotron Techniques: Toward a Multi-Modal and Multi-Scale Standardized Experimental Workflow. DOI:10.1002/aenm.2021026944]