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Local Structure Characterization for Complex Functional Materials

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Advanced Materials Characterization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 May 2025 | Viewed by 1576

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Neutron Science Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1 Bethel Valley Road, Oak Ridge, TN 37830
Interests: local structure; functional materials; quantum spin liquid; neutron and X-ray scattering; X-ray absorption spectroscopy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to provide a platform for community discussion about the recent progress and futuristic perspective of local structure characterization in complex functional materials. The local perspective of the microscopic structure plays a critical role in determining the properties of a wide range of functional materials, e.g., the polarization behavior in ferroelectric materials, ion transportation behavior in energy story materials, coordination chemistry in catalysis materials, and magnetic anisotropy in low-dimensional magnetic systems, among others. Characterization of the local structure of functional materials thus becomes an imperative task in pursuit of better understanding the structure–property link, aiming to provide reliable guidance principles for designing better-performing functional materials. As the exploration space further extends to complex function materials, there emerges an increasing demand for comprehensive characterization of the local structure. Such a comprehensive effort is expected to involve the application of combined experimental characterization, theoretical calculation, and potentially up-to-date machine learning techniques to yield a unique and complete picture of the underlying local structure of complex functional materials.

Dr. Yuanpeng Zhang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • local structure
  • complex functional materials
  • total scattering
  • comprehensive modeling
  • structure-property link

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

29 pages, 6836 KiB  
Review
Advanced Characterization of Solid-State Battery Materials Using Neutron Scattering Techniques
by Eric Novak, Luke Daemen and Niina Jalarvo
Materials 2024, 17(24), 6209; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17246209 - 19 Dec 2024
Viewed by 1053
Abstract
Advanced batteries require advanced characterization techniques, and neutron scattering is one of the most powerful experimental methods available for studying next-generation battery materials. Neutron scattering offers a non-destructive method to probe the complex structural and chemical processes occurring in batteries during operation in [...] Read more.
Advanced batteries require advanced characterization techniques, and neutron scattering is one of the most powerful experimental methods available for studying next-generation battery materials. Neutron scattering offers a non-destructive method to probe the complex structural and chemical processes occurring in batteries during operation in truly in situ/in operando measurements with a high sensitivity to battery-relevant elements such as lithium. Neutrons have energies comparable to the energies of excitations in materials and wavelengths comparable to atomic distances in the solid state, thus giving access to study structural and dynamical properties of materials on an atomic scale. In this review, a broad overview of selected neutron scattering techniques is presented to illustrate how neutron scattering can be used to gain invaluable information of solid-state battery materials, with a focus on in situ/in operando methods. These techniques span multiple decades of length and time scales to uncover the complex processes taking place fundamentally on the atomic scale and to determine how these processes impact the macroscale properties and performance of functional battery systems. This review serves the solid-state battery research community by examining how the unique capabilities of neutron scattering can be applied to answer critical and unresolved questions of materials research in this field. A thorough and broad perspective is provided with numerous practical examples showing these techniques in action for battery research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Local Structure Characterization for Complex Functional Materials)
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