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Ultra-Microtome for the Preparation of TEM Specimens from Battery Cathodes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2020

Hanlei Zhang ,
Chongmin Wang  and
Guangwen Zhou
Hanlei Zhang
Affiliation:
Engineering Research Center of Nano-Geomaterials of Ministry of Education, Faculty of Materials Science and Chemistry, China University of Geosciences, No. 68 Jincheng Street, East Lake High-Tech Development Zone, Wuhan430078, Hubei, P. R. China Materials Science and Engineering Program & Department of Mechanical Engineering, State University of New York, Binghamton, NY13902, USA NorthEast Center for Chemical Energy Storage, State University of New York, Binghamton, NY13902, USA
Chongmin Wang
Affiliation:
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA99352, USA
Guangwen Zhou*
Affiliation:
Materials Science and Engineering Program & Department of Mechanical Engineering, State University of New York, Binghamton, NY13902, USA NorthEast Center for Chemical Energy Storage, State University of New York, Binghamton, NY13902, USA
*
*Author for correspondence: Guangwen Zhou, E-mail: gzhou@binghamton.edu
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Abstract

With the wide application of ultra-microtome sectioning in the preparation of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) specimens with bio- and organic materials, here, we report an ultra-microtome-based method for the preparation of TEM specimens from cathodes of Li-ion batteries. The ultra-microtome sectioning reduces the sample thickness to tens of nanometers and yields atomic resolution from the core region of particles of hundreds of nanometers. Analysis indicates that the mechanical cross-sectioning introduces no observable microstructural artifacts or structural damage, such as microcracking and nanoporosity. These results demonstrate the high efficiency of the ultra-microtome approach in preparing well-thinned specimens of particulate materials that allow for atomic-scale TEM imaging of a large number of sectioned particles in one single TEM specimen, thereby providing statistically significant results of the TEM analysis.

Keywords

transmission electron microscopysample preparationartifactatomic resolutionultra-microtome
Type
Materials Science Applications
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 26 , Issue 5 , October 2020 , pp. 867 - 877
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Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2020

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