Beneath The Surface: X-ray Analyses of Battery Materials and Structures 3. Pair Distribution Function (PDF) Analysis for Everyday Battery Analysis

Did you know in operando measurements of the X-ray scattering Pair Distribution Function (PDF) can help you see the changes in the local order/disorder within cathode and anode materials?

In the charge/discharge cycling of lithium-ion batteries (and other novel battery technologies), there is a continuous buildup of local disorder in the cathode and anode materials driven by the Li-ion mobility that will eventually contribute to battery failure and reduced operational lifetime.

Characterization of the nature and extent of this local disorder can lead to predictive insights into battery failure mechanisms.

In-operand measurements of the X-ray scattering PDF can allow direct modeling of the changes in the local order/disorder within the cathode and anode material as well as for solid electrolytes if used.

In the webinar, we will investigate how best to collect in operando PDF data and discuss the optimum data processing approaches to give meaningful results. In particular, the use of Reverse Monte Carlo techniques to give physical representations of the locally disordered structure will be presented.