New cryo-EM method shows SEI layers in their native, soggy states (IMAGE)
Caption
Cryo-EM images of electrolyte clinging to holes in a sample grid show why it’s important to blot away excess electrolyte before freezing and imaging the samples. At top, excess electrolyte has frozen into a thick layer (right) and sometimes even formed crystals (left), blocking the microscope’s view of the tiny circular samples beneath. After blotting (bottom), the grid (left) and its tiny holes (right) can clearly be seen and probed with beams of electrons. SLAC and Stanford researchers used this method to make the first realistic cryo-EM images of a layer called SEI that forms on the surfaces of electrodes due to chemical reactions with the battery electrolyte.
Credit
Weijiang Zhou/Stanford University
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