Simultaneous Neutron and X-Ray Tomography for Non-Destructive Characterization of Rechargeable Batteries

Sunday, 13 October 2019: 10:40
Room 220 (The Hilton Atlanta)
J. M. LaManna, D. S. Hussey, E. Baltic, and D. L. Jacobson (National Institute of Standards and Technology)
Neutrons are highly sensitive to lithium making them the choice probe to non-destructively investigate lithium-ion transport in rechargeable batteries. Difficulties can arise as hydrogen strongly scatters neutrons which causes strong attenuation in the electrolytes and polymer separators used in batteries. This can be seen in Figure 1 where it is difficult to identify the boundary between the lithium metal and polymer separator. To improve the identification of the interfaces of the various layers within a battery, NIST has the Neutron and X-ray Tomography (NeXT) system that provides truly simultaneous neutron and X-ray tomography. This technique leverages the differences in material interactions between neutrons and X-rays to improve interface and material identification. This presentation will focus on setting limits on the sizes of commercial cylindrical and button style rechargeable lithium-ion batteries so as to avoid the need for custom built batteries using deuterated electrolytes and fluorinated polymer separators. New tools to aid in segmentation of the multimodal datasets will be showcased.