Chasing Lithium Ions on the Move in a Fast-Charging Battery

A team of scientists led by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has captured in real time how lithium ions move in lithium titanate (LTO) nanoparticles, which are present in battery electrodes. The scientists discovered that distorted arrangements of lithium and surrounding atoms in LTO “intermediates” (structures of LTO with a lithium concentration between that of its initial and end states) provide an "express lane" for the transport of lithium ions.