Operando EC-AFM Imaging of Li-O2 Battery Solid-Electrolyte Interphase

Mobile devices and electric vehicles are driving demand for batteries with greater capacity, longer lifetime, and increased safety. Much R&D effort focuses on the electrode materials and electrolytes that power the electrochemical reactions in these devices.

Byproducts of these reactions form a solid-electrolyte interphase that results in structural changes. These processes can have a large effect on battery lifetime and even safety. However, it is impossible to examine these interfaces with conventional light or electron microscopy technique. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) may be the only tool that can characterize these structural changes inside an operational battery.

Download and read this application note to learn about:

• The challenges associated with characterizing the solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI)
• How the Asylum Research Cypher ES enables these operando measurements
• Results examining the SEI in a Lithium-Oxygen battery over ten hours of cycling