Abstract
Progress in the development and optimization of energy storage and conversion materials necessitates understanding their ionic and electrochemical functionality on the nanometer scale of single grain clusters, grains, or extended defects. Classical electrochemical strategies based on Faradaic current detection are fundamentally limited on the nanoscale. Here, we review principles and recent applications of electrochemical strain microscopy (ESM), a scanning probe microscopy (SPM) technique utilizing intrinsic coupling between ionic phenomena and molar volumes. ESM imaging, as well as time and voltage spectroscopies, are illustrated for several Li-ion cathode and anode materials. Finally, perspectives for future ESM developments and applications to other ionic systems are discussed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 548-558 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Materials Today |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 2011 |
Funding
The effort by SVK and NB was supported as a part of the Fluid Interface Reactions, Structures and Transport (FIRST) Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Award Number ERKCC61. Parts of this research (SJ, TMA, AK, AT) were performed at the Center for Nanophase Materials Science sponsored by the Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences Program, Division of User Facilities. TMA was supported in part by DOE SISGR program. The authors are deeply grateful to J. Budai for valuable advice regarding x-ray microprobe, and A. Borisevich and R. Unocic for multiple discussion of STEM-SPM combinations .