Imaging Li-Ion Battery Components at Low Accelerating Voltages with ZEISS FE-SEMs

Rechargeable Li-ion batteries are complex electrochemical energy storage devices and are the power source of choice for portable electronic devices such as cellphones and laptops. Analyzing Li-ion battery materials using electron microscopy can be challenging as the charging effects of high accelerating voltages can damage the sensitive components. This whitepaper demonstrates how Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) can be used to analyze the anode, cathode and separator of a Li-ion battery at low accelerating voltage. The study uses the ZEISS GeminiSEM 500, which offers high performance in low voltage imaging.