How do lithium ions actually move inside a solid-state battery while it charges? For the first time, a team of researchers from the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), the LRCS (Amiens) and ICMCB (Bordeaux) have watched this process in real time using neutron diffraction, the only technique sensitive enough to track lithium deep inside a thick, working battery. Their findings reveal unexpected structural complexity in the electrode, and point the way toward smarter battery designs.
