TY - JOUR A1 - Ziesche, R. A1 - Robinson, J. A1 - Kok, M. A1 - Markötter, Henning A1 - Kockelmann, W. A1 - Kardjilov, N. A1 - Manke, I. A1 - Brett, D. A1 - Shearing, P. T1 - Editors’ Choice—4D Neutron and X-ray Tomography Studies of High Energy Density Primary Batteries: Part I. Dynamic Studies of LiSOCl2 during Discharge N2 - The understanding of dynamic processes in Li-metal batteries is an important consideration to enable the full capacity of cells to be utilised. These processes, however, are generally not directly observable using X-ray techniques due to the low attenuation of Li; and are challenging to visualise using neutron imaging due to the low temporal resolution of the technique. In this work, complementary X-ray and neutron imaging are combined to track the dynamics of Li within a primary Li/SOCl2 cell. The temporal challenges posed by neutron imaging are overcome using the golden ratio imaging method which enables the identification of Li diffusion in operando. This combination of techniques has enabled an improved understanding of the processes which limit rate performance in Li/SOCl2 cells and may be applied beyond this chemistry to other Li-metal cells. KW - Nneutron imaging KW - X-ray imaging KW - Tomography KW - Primary Battery PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-515802 DO - https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/abbbbc SN - 1945-7111 VL - 13 IS - 167 SP - 130545 PB - IOP Publishing AN - OPUS4-51580 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Risse, S. A1 - Juhl, A. A1 - Mascotto, S. A1 - Arlt, T. A1 - Markötter, Henning A1 - Hilger, A. A1 - Manke, I. A1 - Fröba, M. T1 - Detailed and Direct Observation of Sulfur Crystal Evolution During Operando Analysis of a Li-S Cell with Synchrotron Imaging N2 - Herein, we present a detailed investigation of the electrochemically triggered formation and dissolution processes of α- and β-sulfur crystals on a monolithic carbon cathode using operando high-resolution synchrotron radiography (438 nm/pixel). The combination of visual monitoring with the electrical current response during cyclic voltammetry provides valuable insights into the sulfur formation and dissolution mechanism. Our observations show that the crystal growth process is mainly dictated by a rapid equilibrium between long-chain polysulfides on one side and solid sulfur/short-chain polysulfides on the other side, which is consistent with previous studies in this field. The high temporal and spatial resolution of synchrotron imaging enables the observation of different regimes during the sulfur formation and dissolution process. The appearance of short-chain polysulfides after the first anodic CV peak initiates a rapid dissolution process of α-sulfur crystals on the cathode. The increase in the long-chain lithium polysulfide concentration at the cathode surface during charge results in an increased crystal growth rate, which in turn produces imperfections in α- and β-sulfur crystals. There are strong indications that these defects are fluid inclusions, which may trap dissolved polysulfides and therefore reduce the electrochemical cell capacity. KW - LiS battery KW - Radiography KW - Synchrotron Imaging PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c01284 VL - 11 IS - 14 SP - 5674 EP - 5679 AN - OPUS4-51100 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Markötter, Henning A1 - Haußmann, J. A1 - Alink, R. A1 - Dittmann, K. A1 - Tötzke, C. A1 - Krüger, P. A1 - Klages, M. A1 - Arlt, Tobias A1 - Müller, Bernd R. A1 - Riesemeier, Heinrich A1 - Scholta, J. A1 - Gerteisen, D. A1 - Manke, I. A1 - Banhart, J. T1 - Investigation of fuel cell materials and liquid water transport by means of synchrotron imaging N2 - Synchrotron imaging allows addressing various important issues in fuel cell research, for example water distribution and transport. The water distribution in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) was observed quasi in-situ directly after operation by means of synchrotron tomography. The 3D data set was compared with the tomogram of a dry cell in order to separate the water distribution from cell materials. Engineered transport pathways realized by perforating holes through the gas diffusion layer (GDL) are a recent approach to optimize water transport and cell performance. For some parameter sets a cell performance increase and an improvement of stabilization have already been proven. We present high resolution investigations of the water distribution in perforated GDLs of operating PEMFCs by means of in-situ synchrotron radiography. The surrounding areas of the holes exhibited a distinct hydrophilic character. KW - Gas-diffusion layers KW - Resolution neutron-radiography KW - X-ray radiography KW - Visualization KW - PEMFC PY - 2013 DO - https://doi.org/10.1149/04529.0195ecst SN - 1938-6737 SN - 1938-5862 VL - 45 IS - 29 SP - 195 EP - 202 CY - Pennington, NJ, USA AN - OPUS4-30545 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mohseninia, A A1 - Eppler, M A1 - Kartouzian, D A1 - Markötter, Henning A1 - Kardjilov, N A1 - Wilhelm, F A1 - Scholta, J A1 - Manke, I T1 - PTFE Content in Catalyst Layers and Microporous Layers: Effect on Performance and Water Distribution in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells N2 - This work describes the effects of catalyst layers (CLs) consisting of hydrophobic PTFE on the performance and water management of PEM fuel cells. Catalyst inks with various PTFE contents were coated on Nafion membranes and characterized using contact angle measurements, SEX-EDX, and mercury porosimetry. Fuel cell tests and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were conducted under varying operating conditions for the prepared materials. At dry conditions, CLs with 5 wt.% PTFE were advantageous for cell performance due to improved membrane hydration, whereas under humid conditions and high air flow rates CLs with 10 wt.% PTFE improved the performance in high current density region. Higher PTFE contents (⩾20 wt.%) increased the mass transport resistance due to reduced porosity of the CLs structure. Operando neutron radiography was utilized to study the effects of hydrophobicity gradients within CLs and cathode microporous layer (MPLC) on liquid water distribution. More hydrophobic CLs increased the water content in adjacent layers and improved performance, especially at dry conditions. MPLC with higher PTFE contents increased the overall liquid water within the CLs and GDLs and escalated the water transfer to the anode side. Furthermore, the role of back-diffusion transport mechanism on water distribution was identified for the investigated cells. KW - Neutron imaging KW - Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell KW - Catalyst Layer KW - Microporous Layer KW - Water Distribution PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/abec53 VL - 168 IS - 3 SP - 034509 PB - IOP Science AN - OPUS4-52402 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kardjilov, N A1 - Manke, I A1 - Hilger, A A1 - Arlt, T A1 - Bradbury, R A1 - Markötter, Henning A1 - Woracek, R A1 - Strobel, M A1 - Treimer, W A1 - Banhart, J T1 - The Neutron Imaging Instrument CONRAD — Post‐Operational Review N2 - The neutron imaging instrument CONRAD was operated as a part of the user program of the research reactor BER‐II at Helmholtz‐Zentrum Berlin (HZB) from 2005 to 2020. The Instrument was designed to use the neutron flux from the cold source of the reactor, transported by a curved neutron guide. The pure cold neutron spectrum provided a great advantage in the use of different neutron optical components such as focusing lenses and guides, solid‐state polarizers, Monochromators and phase gratings. The flexible setup of the instrument allowed for implementation of new methods including wavelength‐selective, dark‐field, phase‐contrast and imaging with polarized neutrons. In summary, these developments helped to attract a large number of scientists and industrial customers, who were introduced to neutron imaging and subsequently contributed to the Expansion of the neutron imaging community. KW - Neutron imaging KW - Neutron scattering KW - Neutron instrument KW - Tomography PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-534190 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/ jimaging7010011 VL - 7 IS - 11 SP - 7010011 PB - MDPI AN - OPUS4-53419 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tran, K. V. A1 - Woracek, R. A1 - Kardjilov, N. A1 - Markötter, Henning A1 - Hilger, A. A1 - Kockelmann, W. A1 - Kelleher, J. A1 - Puplampu, S. B. A1 - Penumadu, D. A1 - Tremsin, A. S. A1 - Banhart, J. A1 - Manke, I. T1 - Spectral neutron tomography N2 - Combined three-dimensional (3D) mapping of (micro-)structures with elemental and crystalline phase variations is of significant importance for the characterization of materials. Neutron wavelength selective imaging is a spectral imaging technique that exploits unique contrast differences e.g. for mapping dissimilar elemental, isotope, or phase compositions, and has the particular advantage of being applicable to sample volumes on the meso- and macroscale. While being mostly applied as radiography (2D) so far, we herein report that the extension to tomography allows for the display of the full spectral information for every voxel and in 3D. The development is supported by example data from a continuous as well as a pulsed neutron source. As a practical example, we collected 4D data sets (3D + spectral) of plastically deformed metastable stainless steel and herein demonstrate an improved quantification strategy for crystalline phase fractions. These exemplary results illustrate that localized phase transformations can be quantified even in complex geometries within centimeter-sized samples, and we will discuss the limits and future prospects of the technique that is not limited to crystalline materials. KW - 4D tomographic data KW - Multi-energy CT KW - Spectral CT KW - Phase distribution KW - Full-field phase tomography PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-521668 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtadv.2021.100132 VL - 9 SP - 132 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-52166 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bevilacqua, N. A1 - Asset, T. A1 - Schmid, M. A. A1 - Markötter, Henning A1 - Manke, I. A1 - Atanassov, P. A1 - Zeis, R. T1 - Impact of catalyst layer morphology on the operation of high temperature PEM fuel cells N2 - Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is a well-established method to analyze a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). However, without further data processing, the impedance spectrum yields only qualitative insight into the mechanism and individual contribution of transport, kinetics, and ohmic losses to the overall fuel cell limitations. The distribution of relaxation times (DRT) method allows quantifying each of these polarization losses and evaluates their contribution to a given electrocatalyst's depreciated performances. We coupled this method with a detailed morphology study to investigate the impact of the 3D-structure on the processes occurring inside a high-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC). We tested a platinum catalyst (Pt/C), a platinum-cobalt alloy catalyst (Pt3Co/C), and a platinum group metal-free iron-nitrogen-carbon (Fe–N–C) catalyst. We found that the hampered mass transport in the latter is mainly responsible for its low performance in the MEA (along with its decreased intrinsic performances for the ORR reaction). The better performance of the alloy catalyst can be explained by both improved mass transport and a lower ORR resistance. Furthermore, single-cell tests show that the catalyst layer morphology influences the distribution of phosphoric acid during conditioning. KW - High-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell KW - Platinum-free catalyst KW - Mass transport KW - Oxygen reduction reaction KW - Distribution of relaxation times analysis PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-520917 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.powera.2020.100042 VL - 7 SP - 100042 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-52091 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ziesche, R. F. A1 - Robinson, J. B. A1 - Markötter, Henning A1 - Bradbury, R. A1 - Tengattini, A. A1 - Lenoir, N. A1 - Helfen, L. A1 - Kockelmann, W. A1 - Kardjilov, N. A1 - Manke, I. A1 - Brett, D. J. L. A1 - Shearing, P. R. T1 - Editors’ Choice—4D Neutron and X-ray Tomography Studies of High Energy Density Primary Batteries: Part II. Multi-Modal Microscopy of LiSOCl2 Cells N2 - The ability to track electrode degradation, both spatially and temporally, is fundamental to understand performance loss during operation of lithium batteries. X-ray computed tomography can be used to follow structural and morphological changes in electrodes; however, the direct detection of electrochemical processes related to metallic lithium is difficult due to the low sensitivity to the element. In this work, 4-dimensional neutron computed tomography, which shows high contrast for lithium, is used to directly quantify the lithium diffusion process in spirally wound Li/SOCl2 primary cells. The neutron dataset enables the quantification of the lithium transport from the anode and the accumulation inside the SOCl2 cathode to be locally resolved. Complementarity between the collected neutron and X-ray computed tomographies is shown and by applying both methods in concert we have observed lithium diffusion blocking by the LiCl protection layer and identified all cell components which are difficult to distinguish using one of the methods alone. KW - Lithium-ion battery KW - Room-temperature KW - Thermal runaway KW - Gas evolution KW - Cells PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-520890 DO - https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/abbfd9 VL - 167 SP - 140509 PB - IOP Science AN - OPUS4-52089 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yao, J. A1 - Zhu, G. A1 - Dong, K. A1 - Osenberg, M. A1 - Hilger, A. A1 - Markötter, Henning A1 - Ju, J. A1 - Sun, F. A1 - Manke, I. A1 - Cui, G. T1 - Progress and Perspective of Controlling Li Dendrites Growth in All-Solid-State Li Metal Batteries via External Physical Fields N2 - Li dendrites penetration through solid electrolytes (SEs) challenges the development of solid-state Li batteries (SSLBs). To date, significant efforts are devoted to understand the mechanistic dynamics of Li dendrites nucleation, growth, and propagation in SEs, and various strategies that aim to alleviate and even inhibit Li dendrite formation have been proposed. Nevertheless, most of these conventional strategies require either additional material processing steps or new materials/layers that eventually increase battery cost and complexity. In contrast, using external fields, such as mechanical force, temperature physical field, electric field, pulse current, and even magnetic field to regulate Li dendrites penetration through SEs, seems to be one of the most cost-effective strategies. This review focuses on the current research progress of utilizing external physical fields in regulating Li dendrites growth in SSLBs. For this purpose, the mechanical properties of Li and SEs, as well as the experimental results that visually track Li penetration dynamics, are reviewed. Finally, the review ends with remaining open questions in future studies of Li dendrites growth and penetration in SEs. It is hoped this review can shed some light on understanding the complex Li dendrite issues in SSLBs and potentially guide their rational design for further development. KW - Li dendrites KW - Li dendrites penetration mechanisms KW - Solid electrolytes KW - Solid-state batteries PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-588331 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/aesr.202300165 SN - 2699-9412 SP - 1 EP - 44 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-58833 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zhang, Z. A1 - Dong, K. A1 - Mazzio, K. A. A1 - Hilger, A. A1 - Markötter, Henning A1 - Wilde, F. A1 - Heinemann, T. A1 - Manke, I. A1 - Adelhelm, P. T1 - Phase transformation and microstructural evolution of CuS electrodes in solid-state batteries probed by in situ 3D X-ray tomography N2 - Copper sulfide shows some unique physico-chemical properties that make it appealing as a cathode active material (CAM) for solid-state batteries (SSBs). The most peculiar feature of the electrode reaction is the reversible formation of μm-sized Cu crystals during cycling, despite its large theoretical volume change (75%). Here, the dynamic microstructural evolution of CuS cathodes in SSBs is studied using in situ synchrotron X-ray tomography. The formation of μm-sized Cu within the CAM particles can be clearly followed. This process is accompanied by crack formation that can be prevented by increasing the stack pressure from 26 to 40 MPa. Both the Cu inclusions and cracks show a preferential orientation perpendicular to the cell stack pressure, which can be a result of a z-oriented expansion of the CAM particles during lithiation. In addition, cycling leads to a z-oriented reversible displacement of the cathode pellet, which is linked to the plating/stripping of the Li counter electrode. The pronounced structural changes cause pressure changes of up to 6 MPa within the cell, as determined by operando stack pressure measurements. Reasons for the reversibility of the electrode reaction are discussed and are attributed to the favorable combination of soft materials. KW - Copper sulfide KW - Crack evolution KW - Digital volume correlation KW - Phase transformation KW - Solid-state batteries PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-564577 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.202203143 IS - 2203143 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Wiley VHC-Verlag AN - OPUS4-56457 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -