Expert Insights

Stay up-to-date with the latest developments in materials technology through Advanced Optical Metrology, a vital repository of free eBooks, research article digests, and industry insights.

Explore a range of topics including:

• Additive Manufacturing
• Battery Technology
• Composite Materials
• Corrosion

Register for free to download more than 20 eBooks of our Advanced Optical Metrology series!

Battery research is essential for meeting the growing demand for reliable, efficient, and cost-effective energy storage solutions. Research is focused on improving battery performance, safety, and lifespan while reducing their environmental impact.

One key area of research is the advanced characterization of cell components, including electrodes, separators, and electrolytes, to optimize battery design and performance. Battery recycling is another critical area of research, with the development of new technologies to identify and extract valuable materials from used batteries for reuse and re-manufacture. Energy storage research is focused on finding new and improved ways to store energy efficiently and safely, with a focus on different materials and chemistries and the use of advanced technologies such as flow batteries and supercapacitors.

This Expert Insight presents recent research on solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs), recycling methods for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), and cathode degradation during extreme fast charging (XFC) of electric vehicles.

Knowing the density of a material or product is essential for assessing its quality and is used across various fields, such as life science, medicine, materials science, oil, prosthetics, and battery research.

This Expert Insights publication presents current trends and key developments in density determination to decision-makers and laboratory practitioners.

Many of our electronic devices, from laptops to smartphones, are powered by rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Use of these batteries could soon extend into many other areas as well, including transport through the ongoing development and adoption of electric vehicles. But there is still room for improvement. Scientists are actively developing novel materials for lithium-ion batteries so they can charge faster, hold more charge and retain that charge for longer, and are also developing next-generation battery technologies that might one day replace lithium-ion batteries. Doing this requires precise, sensitive techniques for analyzing and characterizing these materials and technologies.

This EKB introduces the main analytical techniques used to characterize lithium-ion battery materials. In particular, it focuses on nanoindentation, a very common method for measuring the mechanical properties of materials, and atomic force microscopy characterization, which works by ‘touching’ the surface of materials with a mechanical probe to map their topography and properties with nanoscale resolution.