International audienceThe electrochemical properties of the O3-type NaxMn1/3Fe2/3O2 (x = 0.77) phase used as positive electrode material in Na batteries were investigated in the 1.5–3.8 V, 1.5–4.0 V and 1.5–4.3 V ranges. We show that cycling the Na cells in a wider voltage range do not induce a significant gain on long term cycling as the discharge capacities reached for the three experiments are identical after the 14th cycle. The structural changes the material undergoes from 1.5 V (fully intercalated state) to 4.3 V were investigated by operando in situ X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) and were further characterized by ex situ synchrotron XRPD. We show that the low amount of Mn3+ ions (≈33% of total Mn+ ions) is enough to induce a cooperative Jahn–Teller effect for all MO6 octahedra in the fully intercalated state. Upon deintercalation the material exhibits several structural transitions: O′3 → O3 → P3. Furthermore, several residual phases are observed during the experiment. In particular, a small part of the O3 type is not transformed to P3 but is always involved in the electrochemical process. To explain this behaviour the hypothesis of an inhomogeneity, which is not detected by XRD, is suggested. All phases converge into a poorly crystallized phase for x ≈ 0.15. The short interslab distance of the resulting phase strongly suggests an octahedral environment for the Na+ ions. X-ray absorption spectroscopy and 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy were used to confirm the activity of the Mn4+/Mn3+ and Fe4+/Fe3+ redox couples in the low and high voltage regions, respectively. 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy also showed an increase of the disorder into the material upon deintercalation
X-ray computed microtomography (XCMT) has been applied to ceramic samples of different materials to visualise, for the first time at this scale, real 3D microstructural evolutions during sintering. Using this technique, it has been possible to follow the whole sintering process of the same grains set. Two materials have been studied; a glass powder heat treated at 700 C and a crystallised lithium borate (Li6Gd(BO3)3) powder heat treated at 720 C. XCMT measurements have been done after different sintering times. For each material, a sub-volume was individualised and localised on the successive recordings and its 3D images numerically reconstructed. Description of the three-dimensional microstructures evolution is proposed. From the 3D experimental data, quantitative evolutions of parameters such as porosity and neck size are presented for the glass sample. Possibilities offered by this technique to study complex sintering processes, as for lithium borate, are illustrated.
A Monte Carlo methodology different from others based on the Potts model has been developed to solve capillary‐driven mass transport involved in the sintering process. The addition of a cohesive energy term to the energetic model enables quantification of the stress gradients within grains, as well as the induced mass fluxes. The study of two‐particle sintering involving volume diffusion has been chosen as a first example. The morphological evolution of the two‐particle system to a single particle is followed. Real‐time‐dependent neck growth and shrinkage rates are defined. The rheological behavior of the particles induced by the Monte Carlo procedure is discussed.
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