Particulate, mixed-valence transition metal oxides are frequently used for battery, catalytic and magnetic applications. For example, the Li ion exchange battery exploits charge transfer of mixed Mn+3, Mn+4 materials. Charge localization and phase separation, especially at particle surfaces, are critical issues for determining the materials’ useful properties, be it catalytic activity or saturation magnetization. The ability to image the charge localization and correlate this with crystallographic information would be extremely useful in the study of this class of materials. Using energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM), valence maps of Mn and Co with a ∼ 2 nm scale have been obtained for bulk samples. In principal this technique can de directly extended to the case of particulate samples, however there are some additional experimental challenges, such as thickness and edge effects, that must be addressed. We demonstrate here the feasibility of valence mapping of particulate samples, and discuss the factors that limit quantitative data extraction from the maps.
Transmission Electron Microscopy Studies of Transition Metal Oxides Employed as Carrier Selective Contacts in Silicon Solar Cells
