Application to Batteries and Fuel Cells

Batteries and fuel cells play a pivotal role in the advancement of portable electronics, the transportation sector, and supplying electricity across the grid. To produce high-performance and safe devices based on these technologies, it is critical to better understand the electrochemical processes, associated mass and charge transport, and material degradation chemistries during their operation. However, disentangling the complex surface and interfacial chemistry that characterizes them is quite challenging. Scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) has emerged as a powerful and versatile tool for understanding these complex processes with high-resolution imaging and local quantification of various electrochemical phenomena in situ and even operando. In this chapter, we discuss the applications of SECM toward ion batteries, metal-air batteries, redox flow batteries, and fuel cells, describing how the technique is used to elucidate the spatial and chemical heterogeneities and dynamic nature of the interfaces formed in the materials and components within these devices. We highlight the development of probes and measurement modes aimed at addressing specific processes in these technologies. While SECM can be considered a mature technique, its applications to batteries and fuel cells are incipient, and we hope this chapter is useful to both the novice and advanced users to identify new research frontiers.