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The push for a sustainable future has driven unprecedented demand for faster-charging, higher-capacity batteries with good longevity. Understanding what limits their performance is essential for advancing battery materials. However, batteries are complex: traditional ex-situ methods cannot capture the dynamic processes often key to understanding electrode behaviour, and conventional ensemble techniques miss the inherent reaction heterogeneity.
Professor Xu of ShanghaiTech University will present charge photometry, a novel operando imaging method that addresses both challenges by tracking single-particle changes to state-of-charge and morphology during battery operation. Drawing on his research into Ni-rich NMC and Na-ion NFM cathodes, he will show how this technique provides powerful insights into (i) factors limiting capacity, (ii) causes of electrode aging, and (iii) triggers of particle degradation – and how this knowledge can accelerate the development of new electrode materials by pinpointing precisely where research efforts should be focused to improve battery performance.
By attending this webinar, you will learn:
- How strategies for mitigating electrode aging processes can be determined from unpicking the complexity of the Li-ion dynamics involved.
- How enhanced cycling stability can be achieved by understanding when, where, and what causes active particles to crack.
- How approaches for improving the performance of new electrode materials can be identified by deducing the ion-transport mechanisms behind capacity loss.
Who should attend this event?
Anyone engaged in the research and development of new electrode materials, including:
- Academics, scientists, and engineers at research institutes and universities
- Scientists at cathode or anode manufacturers
- Engineers at cathode or anode manufacturers
Meet the webinar speakers
Dr. Chao Xu is an Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator at ShanghaiTech University. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Nanjing University of Science and Technology in 2010, followed by his master’s and Ph.D. degrees from Uppsala University in Sweden in 2012 and 2017, respectively, under the supervision of Prof. Torbjörn Gustafsson and Prof. Kristina Edström. After completing his doctoral studies, Dr. Xu conducted postdoctoral research in Prof. Clare P. Grey FRS’s group at the Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge. In 2021, he joined ShanghaiTech University to establish his independent research program. His research focuses on developing and understanding key materials for lithium and sodium-ion batteries, as well as advancing characterization techniques in the field. Recognized for his academic contributions, Dr. Xu was selected for the Shanghai Overseas High-Level Talent Introduction Program.
Dr. Alice Merryweather is the co-founder and Head of R&D at illumion, a start-up dedicated to transforming battery research through advanced optical microscopy. During her PhD at the University of Cambridge, Alice developed a novel methodology for real-time imaging of ion transport in battery materials, allowing dynamic processes to be observed at the single-particle level and with sub-second temporal resolution. Along with co-founders Christoph Schnedermann, Clare Grey and Akshay Rao, she launched illumion in December 2022 with the aim of making this technique widely accessible to the battery research community as a benchtop scientific instrument.