In Operando Small-Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) on Li-Ion Batteries

Small-angle neutron scattering is a tool providing information on nanostructures of objects in the order of 1-300 nm. In this experiment a pouch bag lithium ion battery cell was investigated with SANS ex situ, in situ and in operando during charging and discharging. LiNi0.33Mn0.33Co0.33O2 was used as cathode and graphite as anode material. The small-angle neutron scattering measurements were performed on the SANS-1 instrument at the FRM II neutron source of the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ) in Garching, Germany. Ex situ measurements of components of the cell as well as static in situ and dynamic in operando SANS experiments were performed with a complete Li-ion pouch bag cell. The cell was charged and discharged twice with C/3 and small-angle neutron scattering data were collected during the measurements. The observed intensity data were then evaluated and changes of the total scattering in the measured Q-range are correlated to the lithiation processes occurring inside the cell. Thus we can show that SANS can be used as a tool to monitor kinetic processes in Li-ion batteries in operando and non-destructively. (C) The Author(s) 2015. Published by ECS.