Operando X-ray and Neutron Characterization for Battery Research

Battery research increasingly relies on time-resolved measurements that reveal how electrodes, electrolytes, and interfaces evolve during operation. Operando X-ray and neutron methods, including diffraction, pair distribution function and total scattering, spectroscopy, X-ray computed tomography, and neutron imaging, give complementary access to phase transformations, local structure, chemical heterogeneity, porosity, cracking, mass transport, and lithium distribution in working cells. A gap remains between idealized or ex situ measurements and the non-equilibrium conditions of practical devices, where temperature, current, pressure, state of charge, and mechanical constraints drive phenomena that govern rate capability, degradation, safety, and lifetime.This Research Topic aims to advance a mechanistic understanding of how battery materials and interfaces evolve under realistic operating conditions. Contributions should show how time-resolved structural, chemical, and three-dimensional imaging data can be combined to identify the origins of performance loss, heterogeneous reaction pathways, degradation, and failure. We also welcome work on reproducible experimental design, standardized reporting of operating conditions, robust data-processing workflows, and integrated modelling, with emphasis on linking operando observations to cycle life, safety, manufacturability, and improved electrode, electrolyte, and cell architectures across lithium-ion and emerging chemistries.To gather further insights into the operando structure and interfacial behavior of batteries under realistic conditions, this Research Topic will focus on studies of electrodes, electrolytes, interfaces, and complete cells, while recognizing the limitations imposed by instrument access, spatial and temporal resolution, cell design, and radiation or measurement effects. Contributions addressing the following themes are particularly encouraged:• Integrated characterization: operando X-ray and neutron diffraction, pair distribution function and total scattering, spectroscopy, computed tomography, neutron imaging, and complementary microscopy or electrochemical analysis.• Time-resolved and multimodal workflows: correlative measurements linking atomic, nanoscale, and three-dimensional structural evolution with electrochemical response.• Representative operando environments: reliable cell designs, realistic electrode loading, practical pressure and temperature, variable current profiles, and fast-charging protocols.• Interfaces and transport: electrode-electrolyte interfaces, interphases, phase boundaries, lithium distribution, ion transport, and mechanical coupling.• Materials and chemistries: layered oxides, spinels, disordered rocksalts, silicon and lithium-metal anodes, anode-free cells, solid-state, halide and sulfide electrolytes, and sodium, magnesium, zinc, and other multivalent systems.• Structure-property relationships: links between structural and interfacial evolution and capacity, rate capability, voltage hysteresis, impedance, cycle life, and failure.• Imaging of device-scale behavior: three-dimensional mapping of porosity, phase distribution, cracking, swelling, dendrite formation, current-density heterogeneity, and safety-relevant processes, with relevance to electric vehicles, grid storage, and fast charging.• Data, modelling, and reproducibility: standardized reporting, open data and analysis pipelines, uncertainty quantification, machine learning, and physics-based modelling. Topic editors: Sudhan Nagarajan, Ankur Sharma Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/83673/operando-x-ray-and-neutron-characterization-for-battery-research