We have been concerned for a while how dendrites spread through high-density batteries. Because as the crystalline finger-like growths reach out, they can short circuit components. This causes overheating, and the danger of fire that has smartphone manufacturers on the back foot. Now, scientists at Stanford and the DOE’s Accelerator Laboratory are using cryo-electron microscopy to understand them better.
The Basics of How Cryo-Electron Microscopy Works
Dendrites are extremely tiny, delicate molecular structures. Previously, scientists used dyes, or fixatives to stain them before they could study them. Cryo-electron microscopy uses very cold liquid nitrogen, or liquid helium to freeze them instead. This means they can examine dendrites microscopically in their natural state.
This is the first time they have used this technique, which gained a 2017 Nobel Prize in chemistry. “Each lithium metal dendrite is a long, beautifully formed six-sided crystal. Not the irregular, pitted shape depicted in previous electron microscope shots” according to researchers.
Practical Applications of Lithium Cryo-Electron Microscopy
The video illustrates how cryo-electron microscopy enables a 400,000 times magnification of an intact structure. That is, after conventional transmission-electron microscopy causes another sample to curl up and melt.
“This is super exciting and opens up amazing opportunities,” said Yi Cui, professor at Accelerator Laboratory, and investigator at Stanford. “It’s like focusing sunlight onto a leaf with a magnifying glass. But if you cool the leaf at the same time you focus light on it, the heat will dissipate. And there will be no harm to the leaf.”
Now, their ground breaking research allows scientists to freeze batteries at any moment in their life cycle. Then they can dismantle them, and finally microscopically examine their components at atomic level. This process did not exist until October 26, 2017. We salute them for their initiative, and their imagination.
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Preview Image: Cryo-EM Image of a Dendrite
Video Share Link: https://youtu.be/r4TUMRiLQLU
