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Morphological Evolution of NMC Secondary Particles Through in situ electrochemical FIB/SEM experiment

Microstructural evolution of NMC secondary particles during the battery operation drives the electrochemical performance and impacts the Li-ion battery lifetime. In this work, we develop an in situ methodology using the FIB/SEM instrument to cycle single secondary particles of NMC active materials while following the modifications of their 3D morphology. Two types of secondary particles, i.e. low and high gradient NMC, were studied alongside morphological investigations in both pristine state and different number of cycles. The quantification of initial inner porosity and cracking evolution upon electrochemical cycling reveals a clear divergence depending on the type of gradient particles. An unexpected enhancement of the discharge capacity is observed during the first cycles concurrently to the appearance of inner cracks. At the first stages, impedance spectroscopy shows a charge transfer resistance reduction that suggests a widening of the crack network connected to the surface, which leads to an increase of contact area between liquid electrolyte and NMC particle. 3D microstructure of individual secondary particles after in situ cycles were investigated using FIB/SEM and nano-XCT. The results suggest a strong impact of the initial porosity shape on the degradation rate.