Ultra-microscopes observed lithium ions migrating in double-layer graphene

Using a superscope (
SALVE
), scientists at the Mappu Solid State Institute and the University of Ulm in Germany observed the performance of lithium ions displayed at atomic resolution during electrochemical charge and discharge, demonstrating reversible lithium ion absorption in double-layer graphene in a single nanocell. The findings are published in the latest issue of the journal Nature.study showed that "pure carbon compounds are best suited for use in lithium-based electrochemical storage systems, where lithium is temporarily stored in the carbon body"
China
.project, funded by the Bafta Foundation, aims to study the storage and diffusion of lithium in two-dimensional carbon compounds, such as atomic-level graphene. To do this, Smet and his doctoral students developed a "miniature battery" consisting of double-layer graphene. Graphene is a two-dimensional material consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms. At one end of a slender electrochemical microcryste with a thin
0.3
nanometers, the researchers applied electrolyte droplets dissolved with lithium salt to the top. In order for the electrolyte to not interfere with electron microscopic photographs, the experiment had to be precisely located and mechanically stable, and they used a technique that added a polymer that cured under ultraviolet light, so that the droplets remained in place as gel-like solids.experiments show that when voltage is applied to a nanocancer, lithium ions migrate from electrolyte droplets to graphene double-layer gaps and accumulate there, and when potential differentials are removed, the accumulated lithium dissolves and migrates back into the electrolyte droplets.at the atomic level, this process is difficult to observe "in place". The team, led by Professor Ute Kaiser of Ulm University, used a superscope to prove for the first time that graphene is embedded at the atomic level.the results surprised researchers, with only a handful of tightly stacked lithium in traditional graphite-based batteries between two layers of carbon, while very dense layers of lithium were found in graphene nanocliers. Professor Kaiser says ultra-microscopes provide a unique way to understand nanocables, and the ability to observe the diffusion of light elements such as lithium in the graphene mezzanine is a huge scientific challenge that traditional transmission electron microscopes (
TEM
) cannot.