Dr. Tanya Gupta, Nanoscale Imaging and Spectroscopy Group NIS&T, Gaithersburg

The need for increasing the penetration of renewables into the grid is one of the driving factors that has led to a surge in research on efficient energy storage devices, like batteries. Batteries are as much of a mechanical system as they are electrochemical. Mass transport across different components of a battery is accompanied with mechanical changes that play a critical role in determining its cycle life, capacity retention and eventual failure. This talk will cover morphological changes in two important anode materials, Silicon and Zinc. I will discuss a Zinc vs. Prussian Blue battery system that shows potential for grid scale application. Material characterization is inherent to research in batteries and in-situ imaging of battery cycling has significantly enhanced our understanding of electrochemical processes. The talk will also include,aspects of liquid cell electron microscopy and beam induced art ifacts that we have modeled and its scope towards interpretation of microscopy results.