Waters advances battery electrode design with new Rheo-IS accessory
New Rheo-Impedance Spectroscopy (Rheo-IS) accessory enables battery scientists to better assess electrode slurry composition quality under real-world and process-relevant conditions
21 Mar 2024
Waters Corporation has launched a new accessory for its TA Instruments Discovery Hybrid Rheometers (HR) designed to enable simultaneous electrical impedance and rheological measurements, a critical capability for scientists working on new battery formulations.
When used with Discovery HR, the Rheo-IS accessory enables battery scientists to evaluate the conductive structure within electrode slurries using impedance spectroscopy measurements under real-world and process-relevant conditions. This includes characterizing changes in particle distribution that mimic the effects of mixing, storage, and coating processes. This can accelerate electrode material development and lead to more efficient battery production.
Current rheology solutions rely on performance-limiting mechanical contacts to deliver impedance measurements, which compromise sensitivity and restrict accessible data and insights. The Rheo-IS accessory avoids these limitations with its unique patent-pending technology – a design that enables the Discovery HR's full range of torque sensitivity for precision rheological measurements, coupled with impedance measurements up to 8 MHz frequency.
The Rheo-IS accessory offers an easy-to-use experience, with installation completed in less than five minutes and complete integration of measurement controls and data analysis in TA Instruments TRIOS™ software. This addition expands the Discovery HR's versatility for battery materials, offering rheological measurements of slurry flow behavior, powder rheology to support dry electrode coatings, and now simultaneous electrical impedance measurements of slurries, all readily available on a single platform.