TY - JOUR A1 - Morcillo, Dalia A1 - Winckelmann, Alexander A1 - Oelze, Marcus A1 - Leonhardt, Robert A1 - Schmidt, Anita A1 - Richter, Silke A1 - Recknagel, Sebastian A1 - Vogl, Jochen A1 - Panne, Ulrich A1 - Abad Andrade, Carlos Enrique T1 - Exploring Age-Induced Lithium Isotope Fractionation in Lithium-Ion Batteries using Microwave-Induced Cold Nitrogen Plasma Mass Spectrometry N2 - This study explores Microwave-Inductively Coupled Atmospheric-pressure Plasma Mass Spectrometry (MICAP-MS) as a cost-effective alternative to Multi-Collector Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) for analyzing lithium isotopic composition in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). We investigate the performance of MICAP-MS in measuring Li isotope ratios in new and aged commercial lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) batteries. Our results show that MICAP-MS, operating under cold plasma conditions at 800 W with an 8 mm torch position, achieves results metrologically compatible with MC-ICP-MS, with a precision ranging from 0.6‰ to 3.4‰ for δ7Li values. MICAP-MS benefits from a dielectric resonator for uniform plasma, better ion velocity control, and higher energy efficiency. Optimal settings were identified with dwell times of 10 ms for 6Li and 1 ms for 7Li. The study of LIBs revealed that 6Li migrates towards the anode over multiple charge–discharge cycles, causing 7Li to accumulate in the cathode, a fractionation effect that becomes more pronounced with prolonged cycling. MICAP-MS provides a cost-effective, precise alternative to MC-ICP-MS, with lower operational costs and enhanced portability, advancing the study of isotopic fractionation and aging in lithium-ion batteries. KW - MICAP-MS KW - Lithium KW - Battery aging KW - Lithium isotopes KW - Nitrogen plasma KW - Isotope fractionation KW - lithium cobalt oxide KW - LCO PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-643777 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d4ja00324a SN - 0267-9477 SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) AN - OPUS4-64377 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -