Three-dimensional visualization of lithium metal anode via low-dose cryogenic electron microscopy tomography

Xiangyan Li; Bing Han; Xuming Yang; Zhipeng Deng; Yucheng Zou; Xiaobo Shi; Liping Wang; Yusheng Zhao; Sudong Wu; Meng Gu

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2021.103418

Three-dimensional visualization of lithium metal anode via low-dose cryogenic electron microscopy tomography

iScience. 2021 Nov 9;24(12):103418. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103418. eCollection 2021 Dec 17.

Authors

Xiangyan Li^{1

2}, Bing Han², Xuming Yang², Zhipeng Deng³, Yucheng Zou², Xiaobo Shi², Liping Wang^{4

5

6}, Yusheng Zhao^{4

5

6}, Sudong Wu^{1

5}, Meng Gu²

Affiliations

¹ Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China.
² Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China.
³ Department of Materials, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
⁴ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Energy Materials for Electric Power, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China.
⁵ Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory for Photonic-Thermal-Electrical Energy Materials and Devices, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Energy Conversion and Storage Technologies, Southern University of Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, Shenzhen 518055, China.

Abstract

The structure of lithium (Li) metal anode, including the Li metal and the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI), is critical to the investigation of cycle stability or decay mechanisms. The three-dimensional (3D) visualization of Li metal and SEI, however, has not been demonstrated yet, owing to the lack of 3D characterization techniques and the susceptibility of Li metal anode toward oxygen, moisture, as well as electron beam. Herein, we introduce a successful 3D presentation of deposited Li metal and SEI established via low-dose cryogenic electron microscopy tomography. The Li metal anode is imaged in low-dose mode at different tilt angles and then aligned and reconstructed into a 3D image through an expectation-maximization algorithm. The spherical Li deposits and SEI are confirmed in the 3D tomography of Li metal anode. It is also discovered that the Li metal corrodes and SEI turns concave owing to possible self-discharge after long-time rest.

Keywords: Energy materials; Materials characterization; Materials characterization techniques; Materials chemistry; Materials science.