AUTHOR=Vitoux Laura , Reichardt Martin , Sallard Sébastien , Novák Petr , Sheptyakov Denis , Villevieille Claire 

TITLE=A Cylindrical Cell for Operando Neutron Diffraction of Li-Ion Battery Electrode Materials

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Energy Research

VOLUME=6

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/energy-research/articles/10.3389/fenrg.2018.00076

DOI=10.3389/fenrg.2018.00076

ISSN=2296-598X

ABSTRACT=<p>Neutron diffraction is a powerful technique to localize and quantify lithium in battery electrode materials. However, obtaining high-quality <italic>operando</italic> neutron diffraction data is challenging because it requires achieving good electrochemical performance while cycling a large amount of active material to ensure optimal signal-to-noise ratio. We have developed a cylindrical cell specifically suited for <italic>operando</italic> neutron diffraction studies, and used it to investigate the structural changes in the Ni-rich LiNi<sub>0.6</sub>Co<sub>0.2</sub>Mn<sub>0.2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> cathode material during cycling between 2.5 and 4.3 V vs. Li<sup>+</sup>/Li. The cell demonstrates reliable electrochemical performance, even after long-term cycling, and the important crystal structure parameters of the active material, including Li occupancy, could be successfully refined with the Rietveld method using neutron diffraction data collected in <italic>operando</italic> after appropriate background subtraction.</p>