Preface

The development of high-energy density and stable secondary batteries fulfills the growing global demand for electric energy storage capacity. Although tremendous efforts have been devoted, further enhancement of battery performance will significantly rely on the precise unravelling of atomic-level structure and micro-properties in related materials/devices. Therefore, in this book, we would like to highlight several essential yet commonly employed characterization tools in secondary battery investigations.

In chapters 1 to 3, we focus on morphology measurements in secondary batteries, discussing basic structure, diverse accessories, sample preparation, recent research progresses, applications and current limitations of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), focused ion beam (FIB) methods, and atomic force microscopy (AFM) in related battery studies.

Chapters 4, and 5 present a discussion on X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS), respectively, aiming to unravel the chemical states of electrode materials and solid electrolyte interphase/cathode electrolyte interphase (SEI/CEI) film.

In chapters 6-7, we review diffraction-related technologies (e.g., neutron diffraction, synchrotron-radiation X-ray tomography) in secondary batteries, which are commonly adopted to acquire chemical and crystallographic details.

The last chapter 8 introduces an emerging method, ultrasonic nondestructive testing technology, to probe defects in battery materials/devices.

We expect the above contents could promote future developments of both advanced characterization methods and secondary battery studies. The potential audience of this book includes the broad research community of secondary batteries and characterization, such as research scientists, professors, engineers, and students.