A new method for in situ structural investigations of nano-sized amorphous and crystalline materials using mixed-flow reactors

Electrodepositing insulating lithium peroxide (Li2O2) is the key process during discharge of aprotic Li–O2 batteries and determines rate, capacity, and reversibility. Current understanding states that the partition between surface adsorbed and dissolved lithium superoxide governs whether Li2O2 grows as a conformal surface film or larger particles, leading to low or high capacities, respectively. However, better understanding governing factors for Li2O2 packing density and capacity requires structural sensitive in situ metrologies. Here, we establish in situ small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS) as a suitable method to record the Li2O2 phase evolution with atomic to submicrometer resolution during cycling a custom-built in situ Li–O2 cell. Combined with sophisticated data analysis, SAXS allows retrieving rich quantitative structural information from complex multiphase systems. Surprisingly, we find that features are absent that would point at a Li2O2 surface film formed via two consecutive electron transfers, even in poorly solvating electrolytes thought to be prototypical for surface growth. All scattering data can be modeled by stacks of thin Li2O2 platelets potentially forming large toroidal particles. Li2O2 solution growth is further justified by rotating ring-disk electrode measurements and electron microscopy. Higher discharge overpotentials lead to smaller Li2O2 particles, but there is no transition to an electronically passivating, conformal Li2O2 coating. Hence, mass transport of reactive species rather than electronic transport through a Li2O2 film limits the discharge capacity. Provided that species mobilities and carbon surface areas are high, this allows for high discharge capacities even in weakly solvating electrolytes. The currently accepted Li–O2 reaction mechanism ought to be reconsidered.

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In situ small angle X-ray scattering reveals solution phase discharge of Li-O2 batteries with weakly solvating electrolytes

10.26434/chemrxiv.11447775 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Christian Prehal ◽

Aleksej Samojlov ◽

Manfred Nachtnebel ◽

Manfred Kriechbaum ◽

Heinz Amenitsch ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Structural Information ◽

Surface Film ◽

Phase Evolution ◽

Scattering Data ◽

Carbon Surface ◽

X Ray ◽

Surface Areas ◽

X Ray Scattering ◽

Ray Scattering

Electrodepositing insulating and insoluble Li2O2 is the key process during discharge of aprotic Li-O2 batteries and determines rate, capacity, and reversibility. Current understanding states that the partition between surface adsorbed and dissolved LiO2 governs whether Li2O2 grows as a conformal surface film or larger particles, leading to low or high capacities, respectively. However, governing factors for Li2O2 packing density and capacity need better understanding, requiring in situ metrologies with structural sensitivity from the atomic to sub-micron scale. Here, we establish in situ small and wide angle X-ray scattering as a suitable method to record the Li2O2 phase evolution with atomic to sub-micrometer resolution during cycling a custom-built in situ Li-O2 cell. Combined with sophisticated data analysis, SAXS allows retrieving rich quantitative structural information from complex multi-phase systems. Surprisingly, we find that features are absent that would point at a Li2O2 surface film formed via two consecutive electron transfers, even in poorly solvating electrolytes thought to be prototypical for surface growth. All scattering data can be modeled by stacks of thin Li2O2 platelets eventually forming large toroidal particles. Higher discharge overpotentials (high currents) lead to smaller Li2O2 particles, but there is no transition to an electronically passivating, conformal Li2O2 coating. This implies that mass transport of reactive species rather than electronic transport through a Li2O2 film limits the discharge capacity. Provided that species mobilities and carbon surface areas are high, this allows for high discharge capacities even in poorly solvating electrolytes. The currently accepted Li-O2 reaction mechanism ought to be reconsidered.

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Time-Resolved Measurements of Overlayer Ordering in Electrodeposition

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/proc-451-49 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 451 ◽

Author(s):

A. C. Finnefrock ◽

L. J. Bullert ◽

K. L. Ringland ◽

P. D. Tingi ◽

H. D. Abruña ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Scattering Data ◽

Electrode Position ◽

Initial Value ◽

Time Resolved ◽

X Ray ◽

Surface Ordering ◽

X Ray Scattering ◽

Kinetics Of ◽

Ray Scattering

ABSTRACTWe report in situ time-resolved surface x-ray scattering measurements of the underpoten-tial deposition of Cu2+ on Pt(111) in the presence of Cl− in HClO4 solution. Chronoamperometric (current vs. time) measurements indicate that after a potential step, the electrode-position current decays to 1/e of its initial value in at most 0.12 seconds. In contrast, our simultaneous time-resolved surface x-ray scattering data reveal that the overlayer requires on the order of two seconds to develop long-range periodic order. These results demonstrate that the kinetics of surface ordering can be significantly different from the kinetics of charge-transfer and illustrate the power of time-resolved surface x-ray scattering for in situ studies of electrodeposition.

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In situ small angle X-ray scattering reveals solution phase discharge of Li-O2 batteries with weakly solvating electrolytes

10.26434/chemrxiv.11447775.v3 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Christian Prehal ◽

Aleksej Samojlov ◽

Manfred Nachtnebel ◽

Manfred Kriechbaum ◽

Heinz Amenitsch ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Structural Information ◽

Surface Film ◽

Phase Evolution ◽

Scattering Data ◽

Carbon Surface ◽

X Ray ◽

Surface Areas ◽

X Ray Scattering ◽

Ray Scattering

Electrodepositing insulating and insoluble Li2O2 is the key process during discharge of aprotic Li-O2 batteries and determines rate, capacity, and reversibility. Current understanding states that the partition between surface adsorbed and dissolved LiO2 governs whether Li2O2 grows as a conformal surface film or larger particles, leading to low or high capacities, respectively. However, governing factors for Li2O2 packing density and capacity need better understanding, requiring in situ metrologies with structural sensitivity from the atomic to sub-micron scale. Here, we establish in situ small and wide angle X-ray scattering as a suitable method to record the Li2O2 phase evolution with atomic to sub-micrometer resolution during cycling a custom-built in situ Li-O2 cell. Combined with sophisticated data analysis, SAXS allows retrieving rich quantitative structural information from complex multi-phase systems. Surprisingly, we find that features are absent that would point at a Li2O2 surface film formed via two consecutive electron transfers, even in poorly solvating electrolytes thought to be prototypical for surface growth. All scattering data can be modeled by stacks of thin Li2O2 platelets eventually forming large toroidal particles. Higher discharge overpotentials (high currents) lead to smaller Li2O2 particles, but there is no transition to an electronically passivating, conformal Li2O2 coating. This implies that mass transport of reactive species rather than electronic transport through a Li2O2 film limits the discharge capacity. Provided that species mobilities and carbon surface areas are high, this allows for high discharge capacities even in poorly solvating electrolytes. The currently accepted Li-O2 reaction mechanism ought to be reconsidered.

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Applications of principal component analysis to pair distribution function data

Journal of Applied Crystallography ◽

10.1107/s1600576715016532 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 48 (6) ◽

pp. 1619-1626 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Karena W. Chapman ◽

Saul H. Lapidus ◽

Peter J. Chupas

Keyword(s):

Principal Component Analysis ◽

Distribution Function ◽

Pair Distribution Function ◽

Principal Component ◽

Component Analysis ◽

Scattering Data ◽

X Ray ◽

X Ray Scattering ◽

Ray Scattering

Developments in X-ray scattering instruments have led to unprecedented access toin situand parametric X-ray scattering data. Deriving scientific insights and understanding from these large volumes of data has become a rate-limiting step. While formerly a data-limited technique, pair distribution function (PDF) measurement capacity has expanded to the point that the method is rarely limited by access to quantitative data or material characteristics – analysis and interpretation of the data can be a more severe impediment. This paper shows that multivariate analyses offer a broadly applicable and efficient approach to help analyse series of PDF data from high-throughput andin situexperiments. Specifically, principal component analysis is used to separate features from atom–atom pairs that are correlated – changing concentration and/or distance in concert – allowing evaluation of how they vary with material composition, reaction state or environmental variable. Without requiring prior knowledge of the material structure, this can allow the PDF from constituents of a material to be isolated and its structure more readily identified and modelled; it allows one to evaluate reactions or transitions to quantify variations in species concentration and identify intermediate species; and it allows one to identify the length scale and mechanism relevant to structural transformations.

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A Revised O2 Reduction Model in Li-O2 Batteries as Revealed by in Situ Small Angle X-Ray Scattering

10.26434/chemrxiv.11447775.v1 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Christian Prehal ◽

Aleksej Samojlov ◽

Manfred Nachtnebel ◽

Manfred Kriechbaum ◽

Heinz Amenitsch ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Small Angle ◽

Wide Angle ◽

Reduction Mechanism ◽

Reduction Model ◽

X Ray ◽

X Ray Scattering ◽

O2 Reduction ◽

Ray Scattering

Here we use in situ small and wide angle X-ray scattering to elucidate unexpected mechanistic insights of the O2 reduction mechanism in Li-O2 batteries.

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In situ Time-Resolved Small-Angle X-ray Scattering Reveals the Formation Kinetics of Polyelectrolyte Complex Micelles

10.26434/chemrxiv.9876395.v1 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Hao Wu ◽

Jeffrey Ting ◽

Siqi Meng ◽

Matthew Tirrell

Keyword(s):

Small Angle ◽

Self Assembly ◽

Electrostatic Interactions ◽

Polyelectrolyte Complex ◽

Time Resolved ◽

X Ray ◽

X Ray Scattering ◽

Kinetics Of ◽

Ray Scattering

We have directly observed the in situ self-assembly kinetics of polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) micelles by synchrotron time-resolved small-angle X-ray scattering, equipped with a stopped-flow device that provides millisecond temporal resolution. This work has elucidated one general kinetic pathway for the process of PEC micelle formation, which provides useful physical insights for increasing our fundamental understanding of complexation and self-assembly dynamics driven by electrostatic interactions that occur on ultrafast timescales.

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