Granular phase transformation of polycrystalline aluminum during electrochemical lithiation. (November 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zheng, Tianye; Wang, Xiaogang; Jain, Ekta; Kramer, Dominik; Mӧnig, Reiner; Seita, Matteo; Boles, Steven T.
• Is Part Of: Scripta materialia. Number 188(2020)
• Page Start: 164
• Page End: 168
• Publication Date: 2020-11
• Subjects: Phase transformation -- Operando light microscopy -- EBSD -- Mechanical strain -- Lithium-ion batteries; Materials -- Periodicals; Metallurgy -- Periodicals; Metalen; Legeringen; Materiaalkunde; Metals, metalworking and machinery industries; Metals; Electronic journals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scriptamat.2020.07.029
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1359-6462

Abstract

Abstract: Lithium storage in aluminum stems from a phase transformation from lithium-poor α phase (Al, face-centered cubic) to lithium-rich β phase (LiAl, cubic) at room temperature. We investigate the electrochemical lithiation of polycrystalline Al using operando light microscopy coupled with electron backscatter diffraction. The operando videos reveal that the β phase patches expand radially from discrete nuclei with inhibition observed for specific Al grains at the α/β interface. Statistical analyses indicate that these grains have a preferred out-of-plane <111> orientation. This study suggests that lithiation of Al is a whole-grain process that is influenced by grain textures rather than grain boundaries. Graphical abstract: Graphical abstract Image, graphical abstract