Abstract Scope |
Synchrotron X-ray nano-tomography with operando analysis and chemical sensitivity is powerful to study complex structures. We will discuss two types of such systems – porous metals fabricated by dealloying and energy storage materials in batteries. Dealloying, a selective etching process, can fabricate a variety of nanoporous metals with a characteristic bi-continuous structure with promising applications in catalysis, energy storage and bio-sensing. Our work includes addressing the processing-structure correlation in different dealloying systems, from solid-state interfacial dealloying, chemical dealloying, molten salt corrosion, and vapor phase dealloying. We utilized both full-field and scanning techniques. In addition, by combining X-ray imaging with other modalities, we applied a multimodal approach to address the complex chemical, morphological and structural evolution in energy storage materials. Novel systems with nanoporous electrodes, beyond-lithium batteries and aqueous batteries, will be discussed. These works highlight how X-ray nano-tomography methods can advance our understanding in complex materials for future materials design. |