Public Lecture: X-rays Reveal Secret Life of Batteries
Researchers are using powerful synchrotron-based X-rays to peer inside lithium-ion batteries while they operate. Understanding how batteries function – and what causes them to eventually fail – will help scientists design the next generation of battery technologies.
Making the transition from fossil fuels to cleaner, renewable energy sources for the world’s automobile fleet will require dramatic improvements in rechargeable batteries: They will need to be lighter, less expensive, run 300-plus miles on a single charge and last the lifetime of the vehicle. While lithium-ion batteries promise to fulfill all these requirements, progress has been frustratingly slow and incremental. To speed things up, researchers are using powerful synchrotron-based X-rays to peer inside lithium-ion batteries while they operate. These studies of batteries in action are revealing the detailed physical and chemical changes that take place as a battery charges and discharges. Understanding how batteries function – and what causes them to eventually fail – will help scientists design the next generation of battery technologies.
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