Recently, a lot of efforts have been devoted into lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery system due to its high theoretical capacity (1675 mAh g-1) and low cost, which could be a competitive candidate for the next-generation batteries in the future. However, it suffers from a poor cycling stability during charging-discharging, which is blamed to the “shuttle effects” of lithium polysulfides [1]....
A large fraction of world-wide research focuses on making better battery materials, hence better batteries to meet the demands of current and emerging applications. This talk will focus on understanding the impact of a materials’ atomic scale structure and its evolution on battery performance.
A large proportion of the function of batteries arises from the electrodes, and these are in turn...
A custom apparatus was developed at I07 Surface and Interface Diffraction beamline, Diamond Light Source (DLS) to perform operando measurements of solid/electrolyte interfaces under external potential and UV illumination using surface X-ray diffraction (SXRD).
Samples can be prepared under ultra-high vacuum (UHV) using standard methods in DLS Surface and Interface Laboratory....
Electrochemical processes depend on several phenomena, such as water-ion interactions, diffusion, adsorption and the chemical state of the electrode surface. These processes occur in a thin layer at the electrolyte/electrode interface, the electrical double layer (EDL). The required interface sensitivity to investigate the EDL is challenging to achieve due to a lack of techniques that are...
Directly printing nickel-based single-crystal (SX) superalloy blades with intricate heat dissipation structures using additive manufacturing is a crucial technology for enhancing turbine front temperatures and reducing production costs [1]. However, this process presents significant challenges. During printing, a focused laser beam rapidly melts the substrate and powders, creating an extreme...
In-situ reciprocal space mapping during thin-film growth provides important information for understanding growth processes, like lattice relaxation and the generation of defects [1]. It is a challenge, however, to achieve time resolutions below the seconds range. In this contribution, we present a high-speed reciprocal space mapping method that can be used for in-situ observations of...
Grazing incidence (GI) geometry, i.e. the illumination of a sample at very shallow angle on its surface and the creation of an evanescent wave parallel to the surface, is the foundation for x-ray diffraction and scattering studies of surfaces, interfaces and very thin films. At high x-ray energies (>50 keV), not only the Bragg angles are small, but also the critical angles of total external...
