Nuclear microanalysis of lithium dispersion in LiFePO4 based cathode materials for Li-ion batteries

This paper provides original characterization of battery electrodes by means of nuclear microanalysis. It presents a non-invasive method to investigate simultaneously the concentrations and the distributions of the different constituent elements of a C-LiFePO4 positive electrode as a function of its state of charge (SOC). Since the technique used here is able to identify lithium element, a direct visualization of the possible solid electrolyte interface (SEI) layer can be envisioned. Results obtained open new investigation schemes to a better understanding of mechanisms leading to electrode capacity fading and consequently to improve electrode building processes. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.