Fig. 1: Operando Bragg Coherent Diffraction of a single LixNi0.5Mn1.5O4 nanoparticle during the discontinuous solid-solid phase transformation induced by electrochemical Li-insertion. | Nature Communications

Fig. 1: Operando Bragg Coherent Diffraction of a single LixNi0.5Mn1.5O4 nanoparticle during the discontinuous solid-solid phase transformation induced by electrochemical Li-insertion.

From: Operando real-space imaging of a structural phase transformation in the high-voltage electrode LixNi0.5Mn1.5O4

Fig. 1

a Experimental setup showing the operando coin cell, illuminated by coherent X-rays at 9 keV with a focus size of 800 nm, and diffraction around the 111 Bragg peak recorded on an area detector. During discharge, the LixNi0.5Mn1.5O4 particle undergoes a discontinuous phase transformation via phase coexistence of the Li-poor phase (in blue) and Li-rich phase (in red), separated by the interface (in green). b Schematic illustrating the Ewald sphere construction and mapping out the interference profile surrounding the reciprocal lattice points G111,d (Li-rich phase) and G111,c (Li-poor phase). Kin is the incident X-ray, and Kout is the diffracted X-ray. The area detector records a segment of the Ewald sphere. As it intersects both reciprocal space vectors, the detector image shows a split peak. cj Cross-sections of the 3D diffraction pattern for the same LixNi0.5Mn1.5O4 nanoparticle at various depths of discharge (DoD) and time (t). The depth of discharge is defined as the fraction of the capacity that is currently removed from its full capacity. The vertical axis points along the scattering vector, Q111, and the horizontal axis (Q) points perpendicular to Q111.

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