Atomic Imaging and Diagnosis of Electrochemical Materials - AIDEChem

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This project will construct a new transmission electron microscope (TEM) platform for operando electrochemical imaging, designed to identify electrochemical processes at unprecedented spatial resolution while operating under application-relevant conditions.Better batteries and electrocatalysts are essential for realising a sustainable future. Yet the complexity of their electrochemistry - with intertwined dependence on side-reactions, valence evolution, structural changes, and more - cannot be predicted just by modelling. Peering inside an operating cell will reveal these processes directly, enabling the informed design of future energy materials. Resolving many of these critical aspects still reside beyond the resolution limits of current in-situ characterisation methods.The core objectives of AIDEChem are: (i) To develop a new graphene-enabled electrochemical cell that will grant a unique high-resolution TEM imaging and spectroscopy capability for probing electrochemistry in-situ. (ii) To reveal previously inaccessible processes occurring in candidate electrochemical systems, including batteries and electrocatalysts, at ground-breaking resolutions. The new platform will be used to expose the nanoscale dynamics that govern electrochemical nucleation of nanostructures, epitaxial electrodeposition, nanobubble deactivation of electrodes, and electrocatalyst evolution; electrochemistry that is largely inaccessible with current in-situ microscopy technology. With the new technical capability realised in this platform, AIDEChem will provide the insights that are mandatory for the informed design of effective electrochemical energy materials, optimally tailored for the desired application.Delivery of AIDEChem will be possible due to the PI's combination of research skills - encompassing in-situ TEM, nanoscale device fabrication, 2D materials, and electrochemistry - and the TEM, nanofabrication, and electrochemistry facilities at Warwick University.