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We have observed the growth of monolayer graphene on Cu foils using low-energy electron microscopy. On the (100)-textured surface of the foils, four-lobed, 4-fold-symmetric islands nucleate and grow. The graphene in each of the four lobes has a different crystallographic alignment with respect to the underlying Cu substrate. These "polycrystalline" islands arise from complex heterogeneous nucleation events at surface imperfections. The shape evolution of the lobes is well explained by an angularly dependent growth velocity. Well-ordered graphene forms only above ∼790 °C. Sublimation-induced motion of Cu steps during growth at this temperature creates a rough surface, where large Cu mounds form under the graphene islands. Strategies for improving the quality of monolayer graphene grown on Cu foils must address these fundamental defect-generating processes.

Graphene forms from a relatively dense, tightly-bound C-adatom gas, when elemental C is deposited on or segregates to the Ru(0001) surface. Nonlinearity of the graphene growth rate with C adatom density suggests that growth proceeds by addition of C atom clusters to the graphene edge. The generality of this picture has now been studied by use of low-energy electron microscopy (LEEM) to observe graphene formation when Ru(0001) and Ir(111) surfaces are exposed to ethylene. The finding that graphene growth velocities and nucleation rates on Ru have precisely the same dependence on adatom concentration as for elemental C deposition implies that hydrocarbon decomposition only affects graphene growth through the rate of adatom formation; for ethylene, that rate decreases with increasing adatom concentration and graphene coverage. Initially, graphene growth on Ir(111) is like that on Ru: the growth velocity is the same nonlinear function of adatom concentration (albeit with much smaller equilibrium adatom concentrations, as we explain with DFT calculations of adatom formation energies). In the later stages of growth, graphene crystals that are rotated relative to the initial nuclei nucleate and grow. The rotated nuclei grow much faster. This difference suggests first, that the edgeorientation of the graphene sheets relative to the substrate plays an important role in the growth mechanism, and second, that attachment of the clusters to the graphene is the slowest step in cluster addition, rather than formation of clusters on the terraces.

Many battery electrodes contain ensembles of nanoparticles that phase-separate upon (de)intercalation. In such electrodes, the fraction of actively-intercalating particles directly impacts cycle life: a vanishing population concentrates the current in a small number of particles, leading to current hotspots. Reports on the active particle population in the phase-separating electrode lithium iron phosphate (LFP) vary widely, ranging from around 0% (particle-byparticle) to 100% (concurrent intercalation). Using synchrotron-based X-ray microscopy, we probed the individual state-of-charge for over 3,000 LFP particles. We observed that the active population depends strongly on the cycling current, exhibiting particle-by-particle-like behaviour at low rates and increasingly concurrent behaviour at high rates, consistent with our phase-field porous electrode simulations. Contrary to intuition, the current density, or current per active internal surface area, is nearly invariant with the global electrode cycling rate. Rather, the electrode accommodates higher current by increasing the active particle population. This behaviour results from thermodynamic transformation barriers in LFP, and such a phenomenon likely extends to other phase-separating battery materials. We propose that modifying the transformation barrier and exchange current density can increase the active population and thus the current homogeneity. This could introduce new paradigms to enhance the cycle life of phaseseparating battery electrodes. 3Electrochemical systems can provide clean and efficient routes for energy conversion and storage. Many electrochemical devices such as batteries, fuel cells, and supercapacitors consist of porous electrodes containing ensembles of nanoparticles 1 . For typical microstructures, the particle density can reach as high as 10 15 cm -3 . To further increase complexity, many intercalation battery electrodes, such as graphite 2 , lithium iron phosphate 3,4 , lithium titanate 5 , and spinel lithium nickel manganese oxide 6 , phase-separate upon (de)intercalation. Such electrodes are physically and chemically heterogeneous on the nanoscale, and likely exhibit inhomogeneous current distributions.In phase-separating electrodes, the active particle population is a crucial factor in determining the overall electrode current and the degree of current homogeneity. The electrode current is given by:where is the reaction area of the th actively-intercalating particle, and is the current density of that particle. Under the approximation of similar particle size, we obtain the final expression in equation 1, where ̅ is the average current density of all actively-intercalating particles, is the total internal surface area of all particles (rather than the projected electrode area), and is the so-called active population. When approaches 0%, the electrode intercalates particle-by-particle with a heterogeneous current distribution; when approaches 100%, the electrode intercalates concurrently with a more homogeneous current ...

We use low-energy electron microscopy (LEEM), low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) to study different orientations of single-layer graphene sheets on Ir(111). The most-abundant orientation has previously been characterized in the literature. Using selective-area LEED we find three other variants, which are rotated 14°, 18.5° and 30° with respect to the most common variant. The "30°-rotated structure is also studied by STM. We propose that all 4 variants are moiré structures that can be classified using simple geometric rules involving periodic and quasi-periodic structural motifs. In addition, LEEM reveals that linear defects form in the graphene sheets during cooling from the synthesis temperature. STM shows that these defects are ridges, suggesting that the graphene sheets delaminate locally as the Ir substrate contracts.

Scanning tunneling topography of long-unexplained "square root of 37" and "square root of 39" periodic wetting arrangements of water molecules on Pt(111) reveals triangular depressions embedded in a hexagonal H2O-molecule lattice. Remarkably, the hexagons are rotated 30° relative to the "classic bilayer" model of water-metal adsorption. With support from density functional theory energetics and image simulation, we assign the depressions to clusters of flat-lying water molecules. 5- and 7-member rings of H2O molecules separate these clusters from surrounding "H-down" molecules.

The intercalation pathway of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) in the positive electrode of a lithium-ion battery was probed at the ∼40 nm length scale using oxidation-state-sensitive X-ray microscopy. Combined with morphological observations of the same exact locations using transmission electron microscopy, we quantified the local state-of-charge of approximately 450 individual LFP particles over nearly the entire thickness of the porous electrode. With the electrode charged to 50% state-of-charge in 0.5 h, we observed that the overwhelming majority of particles were either almost completely delithiated or lithiated. Specifically, only ∼2% of individual particles were at an intermediate state-of-charge. From this small fraction of particles that were actively undergoing delithiation, we conclude that the time needed to charge a particle is ∼1/50 the time needed to charge the entire particle ensemble. Surprisingly, we observed a very weak correlation between the sequence of delithiation and the particle size, contrary to the common expectation that smaller particles delithiate before larger ones. Our quantitative results unambiguously confirm the mosaic (particle-by-particle) pathway of intercalation and suggest that the rate-limiting process of charging is initiating the phase transformation by, for example, a nucleation-like event. Therefore, strategies for further enhancing the performance of LFP electrodes should not focus on increasing the phase-boundary velocity but on the rate of phase-transformation initiation.

We use low-energy electron microscopy to investigate how graphene grows on Cu(111). Graphene islands first nucleate at substrate defects such as step bunches and impurities. A considerable fraction of these islands can be rotationally misaligned with the substrate, generating grain boundaries upon inter-island impingement. New rotational boundaries are also generated as graphene grows across substrate step bunches. Thus rougher substrates lead to higher degrees of mosaicity than flatter substrates. Increasing the growth temperature improves crystallographic alignment. We demonstrate that graphene growth on Cu(111) is surface diffusion limited by comparing simulations of the time evolution of island shapes with experiment.