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Understanding the dynamic and non-equilibrium processes that occur during battery operation is crucial for accelerating the development of better batteries. Currently, these time-dependent and metastable battery states can only be studied by in situ or operando experiments, as ex situ techniques are limited to observing materials in their equilibrium state.

While in situ tools shed light on how electrode morphologies and surface chemistries evolve during battery operation, important interfacial structures below length scales of ~50 nm are difficult to access, representing a critical blind spot for understanding nanoscale processes away from equilibrium. Furthermore, existing models of the SEI nanostructure struggle to reconcile counterintuitive observations (e.g., enhanced rate performance correlating with insulating SEI components), highlighting our incomplete understanding of this critical interface.

With this in mind, accurately resolving the dynamic SEI nanostructure and quantifying its thickness evolution while the battery is operating would be transformative for our understanding of how Li metal is passivated and reversibly deposited in various electrolyte chemistries. Such an understanding remains elusive, making the SEI one of the most important yet least understood aspects of battery science.

In this webinar, the speaker will describe new innovations in cryo-EM that can capture dynamic battery processes for nanoscale imaging and spectroscopy, which opens up exciting opportunities to explore non-equilibrium battery phenomena.

Speaker

Yuzhang Li is an Assistant Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UCLA. He received his bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering from UC Berkeley and his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University.