X-ray microscopy

We are enabling multiscale computed laminography for micron and nanometer resolution 3D imaging of extended samples such as standard pouch cell batteries. Standard computed tomography techniques do not work well for samples with flat geometries resulting in reconstructed volumes with imaging artifacts and poor contrast. Yet this battery geometry is commercially relevant and compatible with most other X-ray characterization. The research will study the 3D morphological and chemical changes occurring in operating batteries at both the hundreds-of-particles and single-particle level. The nanometer scale 3D imaging will provide information on how individual particles and interfaces are behaving, and micron scale will illuminate the heterogenous behavior of many particles to provide the statistical performance at the electrode level and any “crosstalk” between the cathode and anode. The development of 3D imaging of extended, flat sample will fill a significant characterization gap and is widely applicable to other important energy systems such as hydrogen fuel cells, flow batteries, and microelectronic devices.